The Third Stackhouse
by mylovelylions
Summary: Runa Stackhouse has always known that her family wasn't normal. Sookie could read minds and Jason couldn't keep his dick in his pants. But when her Gran dies and her sister begins to delve deeper into the vampire world Runa never knew that she would be pulled so far under with her. Eric/OC
1. Chapter 1

_Hey, guys! So this is kind of weird. Never thought I would write a story for True Blood. Actually told myself that I WOULD NOT do this. But here I am. Eating my promises to myself. Just a kind of warning: I really don't know if I'm going to continue this. I don't know how active this fandom is anymore and I do have other stories so if no one's really out there then I'm just going to take it down. I really hope that I get some reviews and follows/favorites but as far at that goes I am testing the waters. SO, that being said this is kind of a practice chapter. It's just to test the waters - that's why it's so short._

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 _Chapter One: The Fourth Man in the Fire_

 _Sometimes it felt like I couldn't control myself._

"We need to go." Sookie's voice was quietly insistent in my ear, her hands firm as they tugged me away from the four, large coffins bubbling over with vampire guts and blood. The ratty slabs of plywood on all four looked like they were barely holding on. One good kick would send them overflowing to slop onto the lawn. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Sookie glance around and then lean into my side, tears starting to brim over and dot her lashes. "Now, Runa."

Beside us, the charred wood of the house stilled smoldered, the wood cracking and popping in the Louisiana heat. Whatever these vamps had done, I wasn't sure that this was worth it. I gulped, my eyes going blurry as I stared too long at the mess.

"Ugh," John Billingsley muttered, giving the appropriate shiver of disgust. My mind shook with fury. We all knew that Billingsley was one of the creepiest motherfuckers that inhabited Bon Temp. Guts and gore was what he made his living from. And they didn't disgust him in the least - vampire, human or fucking unicorn. "Hope ya skipped breakfast."

Sookie's eyes fluttered back to the bubbling mess in front of us and I saw her already pale skin go two shades lighter. My stomach turned. Four vamps dead and Bill Compton was the last person to glimpse them. His sorry ass was probably stuffed, boiling and burning in one of these crates. And my sister was left here with her broken emotions and fear - Their lost couple of days shadowed by the three other motherfuckers lining their wood holding cells like last weeks chili. Gasping softly, I felt Sookie whirl and dash down the hill to our little, run down car.

Leaving me standing there with Coroner Billingsley and his newest pet, who barely looked above the legal age to drive a car.

"Did I do something to upset her?" Billingsley asked, his salt and pepper brows furrowing as his assistant glanced down at his notepad in embarrassment. At least the kid still had a bit of humanity.

My mouth thinned, my ears picking up on the distant call of Andy Bellefleur. "You okay, Sookie?"

Obviously she wasn't but it was nice of him to inquire. Particularly when he still thought that our brother was the prime suspect in a bunch of fang banger girls' deaths.

Billingsley still had that stupid look on his face, his eyes wide as they stared after Sookie. My eyes narrowed, bitter rage filling my mouth. I knew what he dreamed of. I knew that it involved Sookie and most of the girls in this town - one after the other dripping in blood on his examination table.

"The sight of you upsets most people, Coroner Billingsley," I said, my words tinted with a heavy southern drawl as I turned to find my sister.

It was a sweltering day. But then again most days in Bon Temp, Louisiana were, the air so thick that it felt like fog being breathed in. And that kind of heat only breeds the kind of scents that of death and - I shivered, curling in on myself as I wrapped a hand around myself. It was coming back again. I had never had nightmares. Not before - I gulped down bile as the crumpled body of my Gran flashed through my mind, her favorite nightgown soaked in blood and her hair tangled around her face over her blank, staring -

"Runa." I jerked, stopping suddenly beside Andy as he leaned down to look into my eyes. Right now I was the good Stackhouse. I wasn't running around killing girls or banging the undead. I was normal. The word swam murkily in my mind. The Stackhouses were _never_ normal. "You all alright? I know-"

"Thank you," I cut him off, falling back on the Southern belle tendencies that Gran had instilled in my sister and I. "Thank you very much for your concern, Detective Bellefleur."

I forced a smile for Bud Dearborne who was staring at me like he was trying to unwind a ball of yarn. He was smarter than Andy and - I hesitated, wanting to say something but instead skirting around the two and heading in the direction that Sookie had wandered off to. Both men feared the collapse of Bon Temp under the new order of things. The new order of living opposite the dead. They had dreamed about it more and more in the past weeks.

"Sookie," I whispered, creeping around the side of our car after pushing past the throng of hungry people, their eyes avid on one of the three Stackhouse siblings. They wanted news. They wanted gossip. Our Gran's death wasn't good enough. They wanted more. Always more.

The blonde haired girl was curled up against the driver's side of our beat up car, her shoulders shuddering in silent sobs. I crouched down, running a hand over her back.

"I can't take this anymore," Sookie sobbed, turning into to my shoulder to wail like she had when we were children. "How can this - I don't - Gran's gone and now Bill - What else am I supposed to do? Tell me what to do, Runa!"

"I-" The simple answer was that I didn't have one. What was I supposed to say? I wanted to say something but I was just as lost. I was just as - "Let's go home. We need to go home."

"Home?" She didn't argue as I lifted her, sliding open the door and pushing her into the back seat, her hair a mess and her eyes distant and red-rimmed. Silently, I got into the front seat and started up the car, driving us back towards our house. I tried not to look into the rear view mirror. When I looked it would just be her eyes and I knew - I could feel that invasive press of her mind against mine.

"Stop it," I finally hissed, turning onto our gravel road. The seats had been hot enough to burn my skin and I hadn't thought to turn on the AC so it felt like I was a human popsicle set out to puddle on the seats.

"How can you keep it together so well? How are you doing this?" Sookie's suddenly asked and I jerked, my knuckles going white on the steering wheel. "I haven't seen you cry. Not since we found her. She took you in. She was your Gran. She fed-"

"I know what she did," I snapped, slamming the car to a halt and yanking the keys from the ignition. Breathing in through my nose, I looked around at sprawling lawn and the old styled columns that kept the porch roof from slamming into the rickety, wicker swing and chairs. I also looked at the doors. The doors that had been bloodstained and barely hanging from their hinges. Was it odd that that was what disturbed me most? The doors? Not the body of my Gran or the slick feel of blood pooling between my toes and slapping up onto my ankles. It was the doors. The way that the killer had left his fingers all over the knobs and frames like he had groped it before decimating our home. I held back a shudder, looking down at the steering wheel. "I know what she did for me."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt for you to show it." I flinched at the hissed accusation, staying inside the car to bake as my sister got out and stormed into the house. She was mad. She was confused. In some ways, she felt like she was completely alone. I gulped back my own tears, hating myself for not being able to show her such weakness. As long as she stayed with me, she could take out all her hurt and anger on me. I would accept it without a single word of rebuke.

"So pathetic," I whispered, getting out of the car and heading slowly up the stairs and into the house. The slick sound of soap and water sloshing onto the floor reached my ears and I glanced around the bend to see my sister on her hands and knees scrubbing down the kitchen floor. Again.

She had learned it from our Gran. It was her way to get out of herself and leave it all behind.

I left her, shuffling up the stairs and into my bedroom. I had a shift in an hour at Merlotte's and nothing was going to stop me from taking it. Sookie could have her cleaning supplies and rags and I would keep my apron and shorts. Keeping busy helped. It helped me get away from all the dreams - all the uncertainty.

It had all started a while ago. Maybe we had never been a normal family. I let out a laugh, tugging off my shorts for a clean one that didn't have the stench of rotting vamp on it. We had definitely never been a normal family. Not with Sookie's telepathy and my abilities. I shut my eyes at the thought, trying to force down all the hatred and fear that bubbled up inside me when I thought about what I could do. Distantly, I heard Sookie scream in fury and something slam against the floor.

Last night she had dreamed about Gran dying. Again. I hated seeing it. Pressing my hands to my eyes, I crouched down in front of my bed. Every night I would walk through her dreams and they would be the same - every night since the murder. It was a useless gift. One that tortured me with its insistence. All it showed were fears and hatred. Nothing that made people happy. Only nightmares.

Slowly, my eyes opened and I was staring at the girl with the dark brown hair and the piercing blue eyes. Her lips were lush but beneath them were teeth that seemed a bit too sharp and a narrow nose. Her features were angular and sharp like they were meant for arctic winds instead of the homely heat of Louisiana. I looked so different from Sookie and Jason that it physically repulsed me. Tall and lean, I looked better with my hair wound through with braids or pressed tightly to my skull in a pony tail. Too sharp. Too calculating.

I quickly got up, hurrying to grab all of my outfit and yank it on before heading out of my room and down the steps.

Gran had told me the story when I was little - up until the point when I asked her to stop. An old family friend, my parents had died just before Jason and Sookie's. Gran had always been too kind - too good for the down - home hicks that sucked this place dry. She had taken me in, adopted me and laughed it off like it had been an unspoken agreement. But it wasn't. And when Sookie and Jason's parents had died she had been stuck with three mouths to feed.

Now she was dead.

"Sookie." I moved tentatively around the corner, peering into the kitchen to see that it had all but been torn apart as she brought out every cleaning supply that we had. At the moment she was yanking on a pair of rubber gloves. "I'm leaving for work."

"Uh-huh." I blinked at the sharp reply and then bowed my head, turning to leave. "Bring home some bleach, will you?"

I didn't say anything, heading for the door in sullen silence. I had liked Bill. Maybe that was too strong a word. I had liked the way that he had made my sister feel. I liked that her dreams seemed to subside at night whenever she had been with him. I liked that she was able to forget. I bit my lip. Now that he was gone… I pushed away the thought, climbing into our yellow car and starting the engine. I would think about that later.

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 _Once again, just putting my toes in. This doesn't really get into anything but this story will be a Eric/OC. Anyway, I hope you like it and please follow/favorite if you can and review if you can't. I really want to continue this so I'm crossing my fingers._


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you all for the follows and favorites! I wanted to get this chapter out - well, honestly I had a bit of the writing bug._

 _ **DarketValentine** : I hope it continues to be._

 _ **MicroSpider** : It's good to see you here! i'm so glad that you like my writing style. That means a great deal._

 _ **str8jacket** : Thank you!_

* * *

 _Chapter Two: Resurrections_

"Where's my goddamn burger and fries?!" I screamed through the window, leaning over the dirty counter to lock eyes with the big, African American man chopping carrots. Like a doe, his eyes met mine, wide and bewildered. "I see you, Dale. You slow motherfucker. The table's been waiting for twenty minutes-"

"My name isn't Dale," he whispered and my eyes narrowed dangerously as I felt a dribble of sweat roll down my neck.

"Does it look like I give a flying _fuck_ what your goddamn name is-"

"WHO'S YELLING IN MY GODDAMN KITCHEN?!" My eyes zipped to Lafayette as he came out of the cooler with arms filled with potatoes and milk. Immediately, his eyes narrowed as he saw me, his lips quirking up like a cat that had just found cream. "Well if it isn't the sexiest, little hussy this side of Bon Temp. You know, many a man would like to fuck a woman when she looks as sexy as you do angry?"

"Too bad you're not on that list," I said acidically and he gave a hoot of laughter before I shoved the ticket with my order into the window, letting it slam into the wall just beneath the window. "And if you think for one goddamn second I'm going to deal with your nonsense when I have a table that's riding my ass for something to stuff their fat fucking mouths with than you are sadly mistaken."

His hands came down to lean over the counter into my space. It was really a shame that he was only into guys. He had more muscles and charm in his nose than most of these sorry sacks had in their entire bodies. "What you need, sugar?"

"A burger and some fries. No mayo. No pickles." The rest of their food was sitting on my tray just a few feet away with flies nipping at it.

"Mm." His eyes sparkled as he tipped his head to the side. "What's the magic phrase?"

"God-fucking-dammit, Lafayette Reynolds-"

"Sorry. Try again, honeybuns," he cooed, batting his lashes with a patient stare.

My mouth twisted around the bitter words, my eyes darting to the skinny redhead as she zipped past in a flurry of motion. Without Dawn, the former waitress who had been found a few days ago strangled, we were drowning. I wasn't even supposed to be serving. My official job title was a bartender to all the drunkards that wandered in here and stayed for the view. Sam was doing double-duty by manning the alcohol and checking his books.

"You look really nice in that top, Lafayette," I finally forced out, the words bland and painful. He kept staring at me. "If you were straight, I would be on your dick more hours of the day than we could have. You're a fucking _God_. Can I _please_ have my burger and fries?"

He gave another hoot of laughter and flipped a dry burger patty onto a toasted bun. "I am so glad that one of you Stackhouse's is fun enough to play with little ol' Lafayette. Jason's dumber than cow shit and Sookie's got her pigtails too tight to -"

"Give you an ego boost, you narcissistic bastard?" I grumbled, watching intently as he shoveled some fries on the plate and then flounced lazily toward me. When he finally got to me, I yanked it so hard from the counter that some of the fries flew into the fish sandwich. My eyes flicked back up to meet his and I gave him a slow smile as I hefted my tray up. "And I saw Tara in that top last week. Shame you couldn't fit the curves like she did."

Before he could let out more than a astonished yelp, I was scampering away and back into the crowded throng of Merlotte's. Smoke hung over the bar like a shroud, the diner lights above barely cutting through it to reach the guests that filled the ratty, busted booths and tables. Country seemed to be the main theme in the joint, the walls hung thick with deer heads and entire fish bodies that would sing and talk like we were in a damn musical.

"Fried catfish with onion rings, hamburger with french fries - hold the mayo and pickles, and clam chowder," I rapped off smartly, setting each plate down with certainty in front of the small family of three, their daughter looking down at her catfish like it might start kicking any minute. "Want some more sweet tea or-"

"I wanted onion rings," the mother piped up with a tip of her lips, her nose twitching like a rats as she eyed the burger and then slid it daintily to the edge of the table. Of course it would be her, I thought acidically. If it were possible, I would have burned the whole goddamn place down at that moment. Not only had I had to endure all their whispers and looks but now I had to deal with a shitty tip too from a woman that looked like she had just been changing a babies diaper.

"Poor Stackhouse girl," I heard someone whisper behind me and my nails bit into my palms. "Born and bred into a nutty family."

I took the plate, my fingers going white around the edges. "I'll get you those drinks and rings, ma'am."

Sam's eyes caught mine, worry dotting their murky blue depths. For a moment, I thought he was going to come around the bar and ask me what was wrong. He was sweet as a kitten and about as fond of the Stackhouse family as anyone.

"Whiskey!" Came a slurred voice from down the bar and Sam turned quickly to it.

"Now you know that you've had enough, Mr. Delment!" And he was turning away, his attentions diverted. He would have come out for Sookie. Only Sookie.

The plate slammed into the garbage as I gave an angry yell, bowing my head as I clasped the rim. Talking, talking, talking - that's all these people seemed able to do. Rotten food filled my nostrils, clogging my throat and forcing a cough from me. They talked about the possibilities of Bill being in one of those coffins and the possibilities that Sookie would follow him into whatever hell vamps took. The days. The months. The hours. All of it was up for grabs.

Giving another yell, my foot went slamming into the garbage can, sending it crashing into the wall and then to the ground. Wilted lettuce and rotting food spilled onto the tile.

"Woah." Panting, I turned to see Arlene, clutching her tray to her chest and staring at me with wide eyes. "Darlin', are you okay?"

 _No_. "Yes." I blinked, turning to stare at the destruction I'd caused. "Shit. Sorry. I'll go-"

Clutching a hand to my mouth, I hurried around the bend to the storage closet for a broom.

"How long do you think it'll take until the third Stackhouse goes over the edge?" Two men sat in the booth just around the bend, their voices loud over the noise of the place.

"Isn't she already?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes until a spark of pain flamed up.

Sometimes you didn't need to be telepathic to know what all these assholes were thinking. I grabbed the broom, stopping by Lafayette to give him my order.

"Onion rings and put some saliva on the goddamn burger," I muttered and Lafayette laughed, flicking a spatula at me.

"You one naughty hooker, Runa." He winked. "Anything else on the queen's happy meal?"

"Anything you want, baby," I crooned, walking away to the sound of his laughter and back to the tipped garbage can.

Sometimes people just came out and said it.

* * *

I stared across the table at the sleekly dressed man, his black hair combed back from his forehead to let strays dip out and whisper along to his eyes. He looked unkept in the way that my sister liked in her men.

"You're alive," I stated blandly, leaning back more fully into my chair. Sookie grinned across the table at me, her fingers winding through his as she leaned forward like a toddler trying to keep a glorious secret.

Bill gave a small smile. "Well, in a way, yes."

My lips thinned. Personally, I would rather fuck a horse than Compton. That was something innately... _slimy_ about him. Not to mention that he was buttoned up to his adam's apple.

"In the way that we're talking about," I finished, taking a slow sip of my coffee as Sookie sent me daggers over the rim. Pressing my tongue to the inside of my cheek, I put my cup down. "So you're just gonna - _poof_ \- appear and disappear like our fucking fairy Godmother anytime you want?"

"RUNA!" Sookie hissed, her eyes plainly murderous. But I had questions. And they ended and began with the vamp sitting across from me.

"I just find it odd that you _literally_ chose three undead eyesores over my sister in the middle of a bar filled with her friends and family. And then you just... _disappear_ like some pixie bitch in a Disney film to come back brand spanking new." My eyes narrowed on the man, an anger bubbling beneath the surface of my calm mask. "While three vamps and a fangbanger lay in milk crates in the morgue."

"You have every right to be suspicious-" Bill started in his customary stiff manner. Were all vampires as boring as he was?

"No she doesn't," Sookie snapped and I met her angry gaze with a cool one of my own.

Bill smiled patiently, petting her hand. "But I simply thought it would be best if I went to ground before anything transpired between myself and those three vampires."

"And Sookie?" My fingers tapped against the table as Bill's eyes widened in surprise. "What about her? Or were you just dandy with the idea that those fuckers could come back any second and make our whole entire family into shish kebabs?"

"Runa, that is _enough_ ," Sookie snarled, rising from the table to take away our cups of coffee to the table, her shoulders tense. I had gotten to her. My lips thinned, my eyes drifting to the scratches in the table. "I don't know why you have to go on and on about something that is none of your concern-"

"But I am." My sister went quiet, her shoulders dipping slightly. Across from me, I felt the interested and awkward stare of Bill. I swallowed thickly. "Concerned."

Her eyes met mine and I felt the gentle press of her mind against mine. Like a locked door, my mind unhinged and creaked as I let her inside. _I just want to protect you. Couldn't protect Gran. Guilty. So fucking guilty. Please. Please. Jason won't - I want him here. He always hugged me. Fuck! So much-_

I shut the doors, yanking my gaze away from hers and back to the table as I heard her draw in a shuddering breath.

"Runa-"

I ignored her, meeting Bill's gaze again. "Promise me that you won't do this again."

For a moment, Bill didn't say anything, his brows dipping. But then he was nodding. "I give you my word that I shall protect your sister with my life - whatever bit of it there is left."

That was all I could ask. I wouldn't pry anymore than I had into my sister's life.

"On that note…" My eyes whipped up at the almost bashful tone that Bill's voice had taken, his eyes downcast. Aw _hell_ no. "Eric Northman requires a favor from me."

"Favors can be declined," I snapped before my sister could say anything. I had heard about the man. Dawn had said he was a good fuck but violent and the news said that he was a greedy, cold-hearted bastard that liked to make money. He had been the first human-vampire bar that Louisiana had ever seen. Only a very powerful, persuasive man could get away with that.

"Not with Eric Northman," Bill said evenly, his eyes giving away the utter truth of this. Sookie had gone blanched at the name, her mouth thinning with irritation. "He has asked for your... _talents…_ in settling a matter at his bar."

"Well, I guess if he's that desperate than he can come and ask me himself," my sister snapped primly, sitting down beside Bill as he winced. I watched the whole thing through a haze of calculation.

"I'm not sure that we have that right, Sookie."

"I have _every_ right."

"Not if we want to keep your gifts within our circle." Bill saw the weakness in my sister as her lips tightened, her eyes going to the ceiling. Slowly, he took her hands in his. "If we remain useful than he'll have no reason to divulge any of our transgressions or business to our Queen."

"Queen?" Sookie scoffed and my brows tipped up.

"Even the undead and damned have a hierarchy," Bill said with a bit of humor. "And at the top is the Queen."

For a moment, Sookie stewed. But in the end, her need for secrecy overpowered everything else.

"Fine," she snapped, yanking her hands away. "But I'm not happy about this."

"I would be remiss if you were," Bill said with a smile and I rolled my eyes, getting up from the table to get my jacket and bag.

"Where are you going?" I turned to my sister with quirked brows.

"With you all," I said flippantly, heading for the door and out into the muggy air. Fireflies sparkled through the air. It was too bad that we weren't going to a picnic. Or anywhere else but to a vamp bar. I sighed, pulling my hair back into a ponytail as I heard the shuffling steps of my sister and her undead lover. "Would Gran have like this Northman as much as she liked Bill?"

"She would have liked molasses being dribbled onto her carpet more," Sookie said blandly as she came to stand beside me. Her eyes turned up to meet mine. "You don't have to come. I'll be fine with Bill-"

"Please." I waved her words away, stepping down to make my way to the sleek car parked in the drive. "I wouldn't trust him to take you to a baby shower."

"It's nice to see that you are warming up to me, Miss Stackhouse," Bill said with a charmed smile and I snapped my tongue at him, getting into the backseat.

I knew very little about the vampire. I didn't particularly make it my business to find a lot out about my sister's love interests. Not only did I find that it was none of my business but I also didn't particularly think that I would need to know a passing recognition of them. They rarely lasted. But this one - I rubbed a hand over my eyes. This one was going to be lasting longer than I had first assumed.

 _Yippee_.

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 _Please **follow/favorite** and **review** it you want more! Eric's coming up next chapter so I'm a bit excited. I live off of reviews so if you want me to get it out quicker than drop me a line or two._


	3. Chapter 3

_Another update because you guys have been so good to me! Thank you all so much for the follow and favorites! I hope to see more of them._

 _ **permisable** : Thank you! I definitely will._

 _ **MicroSpider** : Pam's actually always been my favorite character. And sassy is what I love to write so I think it'll be fun._

 _ **str8jacket** : I'm so glad that you like that part of Runa! It means a lot to me that you like her._

 _ **X Blue Eyed Demon X** : I love you!_

* * *

 _Chapter Three: Silence is a Part of the Game_

Foreign was a good word to describe the vampire bar in Shreveport. The outside wasn't the threatening part. It looked exactly like any down home restaurant in Louisiana would. But through the open front doors, I could see the red and black leather furniture peeking around the corner. Strip poles on raised dance floors and high chairs with granite tables dotted the interior which seemed endless from the backseat of Bill's car. A long bar was just to the right of the entrance, the red lights glowing softly over the alcohol bottles and picture frames. Blood and sex - that's what this place was designed for.

"I would advise you to stay silent," Bill was saying tightly. He had gone through the whole conversation about this Eric Northman being a very powerful vampire, Sheriff, blah, blah, blah, Sookie getting checked out like a library book, blah, blah. My eyes were too busy taking in the red, glowing sign over the red canopy that guarded the front entrance. _Fangtasia_. Inventive. "You were not exactly in the plans for tonight."

I nodded, meeting my sister's gaze and opening my mind up for her. _If you need my help…_ Discreetly, she nodded before turning and getting out of the car. An interrogation was what we were going to be walking into. And although my powers were normally a plague, a little fear was all that most anyone needed to open up like a clam.

"If I had known before this moment that you would be coming with us than I might have suggested a…" I stared at him, slamming the car door shut and crossing my arms as he gave me a pained once over. Finally, he gave me a strained smile. "More appropriate attire for a meeting of my kind."

My eyes turned down to my black mesh top, my sports bra plainly in view and my ripped capris. Sighing, I walked past him to the door. I was pretty sure that these vamps would be able to rip off any clothing that covered myself within a matter of seconds. "Next time I'll make sure to wear a silver vest and some garlic. Invited guests first."

Giving them a wan smile, I let them pass me up and into the bar. Just out of my view from the open door were the three scariest motherfuckers that I had ever come across. Fuck Bill and his stupid little civil war puppy dog shit - These vampires made him look like a golden retreiver next to a couple of great white sharks. Goosebumps flashed up my spine as all my muscles seized was a natural instinct like breathing. Like a kitten coming across a couple of bobcats.

Leaning against the bar, a lean blonde woman in a light pink sweater and khakis eyed a shivering human in the chair just across from her. You wouldn't think that someone as cushy as her would look like she could slit your throat and then laugh over your corpse. She made it work. Deep scarlet painted her lips and dark makeup accentuated the icy depths of her eyes as they slowly ran over to us. Standing just behind her, flicking his fingers over an open flame was a man of Native American descent in a leather vest, his hair long and dark as it swept to his shoulders.

"I didn't know that we invited them to a free for all fucking barbeque," the blonde woman quipped, giving me a long once over and then a slow smile. I looked away.

The last one, his shoulders hunched in like he was trying to curve in on the human sitting just beside him. He made my blood go cold, my heart rate picking up just in time as his eyes flicked up and he gave a lazy smile. This had to be Eric Northman. There was no other answer to the utter predatory power that this man exuded. A black tank top hugged every curve of his chest, accentuating his defined arms and shoulders. He was attractive - there was no way that I would ever deny that. Sandy blonde hair hung down to his chin, where a light splatter of stubble softened his powerful jaw. The most striking thing about him were his eyes - wasn't that what it always boiled down to? They were cold and calculating, blocks of ice in the Alaska sea, frothing over at the edges.

A burst of pain sliced through my skull and I let out a hiss, pressing my fingers to my eyes as it skittered along my brain. I recognized him. _No_. That wasn't right. It was something about his narrow nose and sharp gaze. It seemed familiar. Painfully familiar. Like a picture your mom shows you when you're young.

"Runa?" Sookie was next to me, her eyes wide as she stared up at me, her hands going to my back. "Are you okay?"

I had stopped the whole damn procession. I should have gotten a standing ovation for how indiscreet I was being. Wincing, I forced my hand away from my face and moved to stand on the opposite side of Compton as Sookie. "Just lovely, sis."

The icy depths churned and Northman tipped his chin back. Sookie was right about Gran not liking this man. She would have turned her nose up at the way his eyes were nearly eating the clothes off of my body. My jaw set. I was pretty sure that a hoodie and sweats wouldn't have stopped that from happening.

"Have you acquired a second Stackhouse, Bill?" My insides shivered at the gravelly rasp that thickened his speech, drawing out the words until they seemed to scrape along my skin. His eyes stayed on me as he said them, an amused tilt coloring his voice.

"I'm afraid I have not had the pleasure," Bill said thinly and I sent him a long side-ways glance. _And you never would, buster_.

"Interesting," Eric mused and I felt an odd buzzing hum through my body as his smile turned predatory and then dimmed into a tame mask as he turned to Sookie. "Has Bill told you of our arrangement?"

My sister straightened and I saw the blonde woman give a patient smile against the bar. "Yes. But I-"

"Good," Eric cut her off, pulling out the chair across from the sweating human with a clatter. "Take a seat, Miss Stackhouse."

It was safe to say that by the time my sister sat down, she looked like a cat that had had her tail pulled on a time too many. Her back was ramrod straight, her shoulders up as she stared at the blonde man with a mixture of disdain and disgust. My spine went just as stiff as I felt Bill's hand slide into the curve of my back, his eyes apologetic as he gently pushed me to stand beside him at the bar, facing Sookie. She couldn't see either of us. My lips thinned, my mind opening up as I allowed her to feel a bit of my anxiety and worry. Slowly, her shoulders eased.

"Now that we're all settled," Eric said smoothly and I gulped as he made his way around the side of the table, his gate slow and steady. It was like watching Jaws all over again. "Pam, Longshadow and I are all partners in this club."

My eyes instinctively lowered to the ground as he passed, the feeling of his eyes moving over me sending a sharp bolt of unwanted awareness through me. He was a vampire. He could definitely hear how fast my heart was beating.

"And we recently noticed that 16,000 dollars has gone missing." I was suddenly very glad that I was beside Compton, his body positioned just in the way of the woman who I assumed was Pam and Longshadow. Slowly, Eric took his hands from his pockets and squeezed the human's shoulder until he made a squeal similar to a pig's right before it died. "And Bruce...is our _accountant_ … Perhaps you can start by listening to him."

"He isn't saying anything," my sister snapped defiantly and I resisted the urge to go over and shake her. We were already in this maze of death. She knew that we need her to get out of here without being bait.

"Don't be coy," Eric said, not even glancing up from the human who had begun to sob quietly. "It's humbling enough to turn to a human for assistance. We know what you can do."

There was irritation in those words, his shoulders rolling like a caged animals as he looked around his bar.

"And I know what you can do too. Why don't you just glamor him?"

"Now don't you think we might have tried everything before summoning you?" Eric said, annoyance now plainly obvious in his voice as he gave my sister a sharp glance. "So… It would be a great favor to me and to Mister Compton if you helped us."

I stayed as silent as possible under the overwhelming tension. My mouth had gotten me into a lot of trouble. But no one would ever say that I hadn't learned from all the backyard beatings I had gotten when I was young. And I definitely wasn't going to be baby food for some greek god who looked like he could tear whole cities down with an indifferent sweep of his hand.

"If I found out who did it," my sister said carefully. "Then what?"

"We'll turn that person over to the police and let the authorities handle it from there."

I didn't look towards the deep voice coming from behind the counter. Instead my eyes were dragged up to Eric as they flicked indifferently and a bit sardonically over the Native American vampire. I had a feeling that the blonde haired man would not have made the same offer.

He would have told the blunt, horrible truth.

My sister scoffed, her eyes meeting mine in a what the fuck moment. I shrugged. Who knew how dumb these vamps thought we were - two country girls with the southern drawl and the tits to match. And what were we honestly going to do if they refused? Come out and protest outside the fucking bar?

"Hundreds of years old and you're _still_ a terrible liar," Sookie snorted before whirling back to stare up at Eric as Longshadow gave her a snarl. My eyes finally flicked to the vampire, giving him a sneer that could have melted the skin right off of any country hick within a ten mile radius. "I'll make you a deal. If you promise to hand over the person who did this to the police, I'll agree to help you anytime you want."

" _Sookie_ ," I hissed out, stepping forward as rage sizzled along my skin. All eyes turned on me, Eric Northman's mouth tipping up in a dare-me-not way that had my hackles raising. I met my sister's eyes, silently pleading with her to take everything she had just said back.

If she needed my help today than I would be roped into this little deal as well. There was no doubt in my mind that oddities were something that vampires rarely came across in their existence. Sure they lived through history. But after a while - human after human after human, sex and gore and blood - it had to be the dullest existence that they had. A step up from human existence was one thing. Concurring was the next. Eric Northman looked like a man who enjoyed concurring things that he couldn't - shouldn't have.

 _My abilities_. The emotion pressed into my mind and I stared at her as my nails dug into my palms. She didn't know what she was doing. I bared my teeth at her, forcing all of my logic into her like a scream. Her skin went the color of paper, the sudden realization of the jeopardy that she had placed not only herself but me in as well suddenly pressing down on her. But it was too late.

"Alright," came the low voice, that familiar sarcasm lighting up the words. I gulped, dragging my eyes away from my sisters to meet Eric's. Curiosity. Was it odd that that was more terrifying than any other emotion that I could have seen there? I leaned back, dropping my gaze to the floor again and ignoring Bill's bewildered stare. "Why not?"

My mouth thinned. He knew what he was doing. How could he not? I closed my eyes, hunkering down against the bar. I hadn't told Sookie through our link about the unstable ground that she had put me on. Just the logic of what this man could do. What he could make _her_ do. Maybe I should have. That would have saved me.

"Bruce it's okay," I heard my sister whisper. "Take a deep breath… Did you steal their money?"

I looked around. The way that all of these vamps were looking down at poor, ol' Bruce was the farthest from nice that I had seen in awhile. I wondered why they hadn't just flayed him and questioned him that way.

My sister's shoulders tightened, a dribble of sweat rolling down her neck. She spent so long ignoring the voices, I was sure it was painful having to open up to them so completely. Painful and physically taxing.

"No," Bruce started out calm but quickly spiraled into hysterics. "No, no! Ya gotta believe me, I didn't do it! I swear to ya!"

He was so filled with fear that I could barely get around the stench of it. His dreams opened up to me. His nightmares. My eyes slitted as I stared at the beads of sweat collecting around his eyes. Vampires. Vampires all night long. He breathed them in during the days at his desk with his numbers but at night - well, that was when the monsters came out. He dreamed about what he saw when he had snuck in on the blonde one in the basement. Opening the door-

I jerked, blinking away the images as he got up. Bill was watching me out of the corner of his eyes.

"You trust the skinny one to clear the fat one?" Longshadow questioned vehemently.

"That skinny one just cleared your prime suspect," I said before I could think, my eyes staying on the accountants sweat soaked back until he disappeared out the door. "I would think you would be happy. You won't need to bribe another accountant to keep all your dirty little secrets."

Longshadow let out a hiss which I fully reciprocated, watching as his eyes darted to the rows of sharp teeth lining my mouth. Dull enough to pass as human but jagged enough to bite off his tongue. Pam let out a chortle, throwing her head back in glee.

"Runa-"

He was in front of me in a secret, the bulk of him crowding me against the bar before I could even let out a breath. My sneer dropped, my heart rate increasing painfully as I tried to look anywhere but his eyes. Just over his shoulder seemed like a good option.

"It's actually quite easy to bride an accountant." He leaned in until I felt his cool breath running along my ear, my insides quaking at his close proximity. "Everyone has their price."

And then he was gone and I was left with the attention of two vampires and my sister on me. Not doing too well to fly under the radar, huh? Maybe I should throw on a sombrero and _jarabe tapatio_ on one of the granite tops.

"Bring the next one in," Eric ordered offhandedly, a slight nod in Pam's direction.

I tightened my lips, settling back for the show as the humans were paraded in front of my sister one after the other. By the fifth one, her shoulders were slumping, her hands slightly shaking.

"No um," she mumbled out, before pressing a hand to her face. Tiredly, she turned to me, her eyes confused. "Runa…"

 _He's not even shaken. He's hiding something but I just can't get past all the bullshit._

My eyes moved to Eric, his tall, lean figure imposingly vigilant. He looked like he was the closest out of anyone to ripping out the scrawny, little weaklings throat and bathing in his blood. Slowly, I turned back to my sister. _Are you sure? Mr. Northman looks like he's doing a good job._

A spark of sarcasm lit her gaze, her lips tilting down. _Just help me._

My muscles creaked and my joints popped as I leveled myself from the bar.

"Miss Stackhouse-" Bill started to hiss before Sookie stopped him with a calming smile. The other vamps didn't seem to be as appeased by that. I felt like I was walking through a minefield as I rethought my route to the human by skirting around Eric who smirked in amusement. That seemed to be his resting face.

Taking a breath, I put a hand on the boys bony shoulders, ignoring his sputtered rebukes as my fingers gently skated down until I could feel the beat of his heart beneath them. Fears - he had too many to count. Water. He couldn't swim. Cats weirdly enough - he had been mauled by one when he was little. And then - I slipped my hand into his breast pocket, drawing out a rose gold watch that was dainty enough for me to snap it in half.

"He's free to go," my sister's voice chirped out, filling the room as I made my way to the blonde vampire. Her brows quirked.

"Presents so early on?" she mused, her head tipping to the side as she eyed my outstretched hand, the watch glinting softly.

"He's been dreaming about the moment that you find out that he took this from you," I said, turning to stare back at the wide-eyed boy, his shaggy hair falling into his eyes. "A secret admirer."

"Hm." Her lips tipping up and her eyes flashing as she eyed the shaking human. "Well isn't that absolutely _delightful_."

She was the one to take him out to one of the back rooms. He didn't return.

"Have you been hiding something from me, Compton?" Eric inquired softly, the humor in his eyes belying the overwhelmingly predator way that he was staring at me.

"I - I assure-" Bill stuttered out but Sookie cut him off.

"My sister didn't have the same obligation that I had to Bill."

"It was my secret to keep," I finished, forcing my eyes to meet the cool depths of his. Smug contemplation filled the harsh lines of his face. It was the kind of attention that a normal girl wouldn't want. My jaw set and I turned back to the empty chair, breaking his gaze. I was a normal girl.

Sookie's eyes met mine over the head of the next human. What had she gotten us into? The side of my face felt like an open flame, Eric's eyes boring into the side of my skull. Pam looked like she had just eaten a canary.

I gulped, focusing down on the heartbeat under my fingers. Nightmare after nightmare. Fear after fear. They ate me up. In the night, I felt like I could barely contain my want for blood, for fears and tears and all the emotions that came with both. This invasiveness was eating up my humanity.

I jerked my hands away from the human female as if she had caught fire beneath my fingers, my breathing ragged and sweat rolling down my back. Beside me, I heard Eric rumble and I saw the twitch of his nose as his eyes narrowed on me. That gaze sent hot shivers down me, something secret and mean awakening. Blood. Gore. Sex. I winced, rubbing my hands reflexively as I hunkered down until the next human was set in my chair.

"Runa, you don't have to-" My hand was already pressing over the boy's heart, his breathing going unsteady as he felt the heat of my body against his back. My eyes narrowed, catching on a bit of torn flesh around his neck, just beneath his collar. _Shit_. Nail marks.

He beat his wife every single night. I gulped, my fingers digging into his shoulder as my hearing went fuzzy. Last night he had raped her. Good thing they didn't have kids. Good thing they didn't have to hear her sob and scream. Damn. Death. He stunk of it. Her dead eyes - still breathing but dead all the same, like it was just her bones and blood keeping her there.

"Is he cleared?" I forced out, my words strained and uneven as my vision snapped in and out. Sookie was looking at me like I had grown a second head.

"Y-yeah-Oh my god! RUNA, STOP!" My fingers dug into the hair at the base of his skull before I could think, sending his head slamming into the table. I wanted to do more. My whole entire body tensed to do more. _Sometimes I felt like I wasn't in control_. I stumbled back, hatred and disgust clouding my vision as I heard the man moan.

"Well, this just got more entertaining," I heard Pam muse. I could still hear her screaming. Desperately, I pressed my heels into my eyes, trying to get it out with a sharp burst of pain. Sookie soft voice was whispering to the motherfucker-

"Human." I shivered as a hand ghosted along my arm, callouses roughening the skin, removing my hand from my eyes and tipping up my chin. Eric. "Speak."

My breathing evened. It was a simple command. In and of itself, it _was_ a command. It shouldn't have made me feel any better. But it did. I licked my lips, keeping his gaze as his thumb began to make gentle lines across my jaw.

"He beats his wife every night." Sookie stopped touching him, her body flinching away from the human man like she had looked into a baby stroller to find a rattlesnake. Eric's eyes hardened. "Ineptitude. Hate. He dreams about raping her - every night. He dreams about it."

"Fucker," I heard Pam hiss from across the room and I looked away, suddenly feeling very confused.

"SHE'S A LIAR!" The man screamed as the blonde hauled him to his feet and away from my sister, her face a sickly white. "I DIDN'T DO-"

"That's a good bit of information," Eric mused, his fingers tightening around my jaw as I went to pull away. Laughing blue eyes held mine as he moved a bit closer, his lean chest brushing along my front in a light tease. "You are becoming quite an interesting case, little human."

With one final wolfish grin, he released me, brushing around me to make his way to the howling in the back room. I closed my eyes, putting up every difference that I had to keep out the rest of his dreams. I couldn't meet my sisters eyes as she watched me wander back to the bar and take a seat a couple stools away from Compton.

I remained there as the next girl - Ginger - stumbled in, Pam and Eric both coming back into the room looking like they had come back from a picnic. Sookie looked like she was going to be sick. How was her little deal working now?

Barely there, conversation dribbled in through my numbed senses. I was trying to blank it all out. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see anymore of the wretchedness that inhabited this bar.

"It's a vampire." My head snapped up at that, catching the astonished stare of my sister. Right before -

I lunged forward, Sookie's scream piercing the air and bouncing off the walls as Longshadow slammed into her. He was overtop of her. Panic pumped through me, my body feeling like it was going through molasses as I tried to make it to her. Too far - Her mind exploded in mine - the effect like a stun grenade going off in my head. I stumbled, crashing into the table and then slamming to my knees, my head ringing and my vision popping. Bile rose in my throat, my arms and legs spasming as I fought to stay semi-upright.

"Ginger, enough!" Pam's voice, irritated and closer to a snarl than I had ever heard her. I blinked, trying to shake out my head.

"Thank you," Eric murmured. My brows furrowed, my mind trying to digest everything that was going on around me.

"Well, that's unfortunate." I shook out my head again, blinking up at Eric as he crouched down in front of me, tipping up my chin. "Our little human is clumsier than expected."

I mumbled out a breath, the ringing still bouncing off the inside of my skull like a tennis ball. Something was making an odd gushing sound. Fingers combed back my hair, exposing my temple. My eyes fluttered shut, an odd stillness filling my mind at the touch.

"Ginger, will you _please_ shut the _fuck_ up?" Pam snarled, pushing past the barely clad woman to come over to us. Still dazed, I stared up at her, my eyes narrowing and widening as her figure blurred in my vision. She smiled. "At least this one is a bit more of a bite than the other one."

Sookie was still crashing into my mind, her feelings mixing with horror and disgust. And just blank confusion. I swayed forward, barely catching myself with my hands, my hair loosening from my ponytail until it all came cascading down around me. Fuck. I wanted to throw up. Maybe if I threw up I would be able to think again.

"Humans," Eric was musing above me and I mumble incoherently as strong hands turned me, his long hair tickling around his face as he propped my back up against his front. Fingers still tangled through my hair, keeping it away from my face as he ran a critical eye over me. "Honestly, Bill I don't know what you see in them."

"You seem quite interested in one at the moment," Bill snapped back acidically, his mouth curved bitterly as Pam snorted.

"Oh, good one," she quipped, strolling out of the room.

"You would be right…" His smile grew predatory as he leaned down around me, his other hand skimming along my hip. "If I didn't suspect that this little human wasn't all she pretends to be."

* * *

 _If you want more, you know what to do! All my love!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Woah. Have I told you how awesome you guys are? Because you are awesome. Thank you so much for the follows and favorites. And the reviews. OMG. The reviews. Kisses to all of you._

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* * *

 _Chapter 4: Nótt Elska_

I winced, pressing my lips more tightly together as Eric circled me, his eyes keen with predatory intent. I felt like a kitten that had wandered out into the middle of the sea and suddenly found that a great white was circling me. The only thing left to do was put on the same mask of indifference that I had acquired in serving the snippy little pricks that ate at Merlotte's.

"It always amuses me when humans try to pretend like they're completely impartial to my presence." His fingers skimmed along the back of my hands, sending an electric current up my arm. I hissed, baring my teeth at him , the instinct to fight back kicking in. Eric smirked, a daring kind of light turning his eyes the color of a freezing lake.

"And here I was under the impression that you think I'm not human," I snapped, barely reigning myself in as he circled to my front again.

"Close enough," he dismissed, his hand flicking out ghosting across the shell of my ear.

"Stop touching me," I hissed which only seemed to amuse him more as his fingers made a cool trail down to the curve of my collarbone. My breath stalled. I stilled. The tips of his fingers aligned perfectly and gently over where my heart pulsed beneath my skin. Fear skittered up my spine. Definitely like a kitten being circled by a great white.

"Close enough to human," he murmured, his eyes almost hypnotic as he gave me a slow smile. "That I could rip out your beating heart right now and you would crumple to a heap at my feet."

I shivered, my eyes flicking to the floor. He was right. I felt like I was in more danger than ever before, the realization making my heart beat painfully against my ribcage. And the most terrifying thing was the other realization that came along with that. That the man standing in front of me, his fingers dancing along the skin exposed by my top, was the most powerful person that I had ever come across.

My lungs ached painfully as I kept my mouth shut, my lips trembling the barest amount as he leaned forward, his fingers dancing back up my collarbone to cup the nape of my neck.

"But I won't do that." His breath blew coolly along the shell of my ear, causing a resulting shiver to roll through me as he pulled away and I caught his smirk.

"Eric," Bill hissed threateningly as I finally sucked in a breath and Eric tilted his head toward the man that was still situated near the bar. Sookie had long since gone into the bathroom, Pam running off to find her an extra pair of clothing. I closed my eyes, listening to the quiet sobs of Ginger and the sloshing of blood and vampire bits being heaved into a bucket. Poor girl had been forced to clean up the mess.

And I had been left to get the second degree by Mr. Northman.

"I almost forgot that you were here, Compton," Eric drawled, his eyes going heavenward as an expression of complete loathing tilted his lips down. I stared up at him through my lashes, my head still bowed. He was powerful but there was something extremely likable about this man. And that, in itself was what irritated me the most. His eyes met mine. I quickly let my eyes slide back to the ground. "Have you claimed her as well as the blonde one?"

"Like hell," I snarled before I could help myself, my shoulders rising in indignation. Dammit. Bill's eyes met mine, his expression similar to the one my Gran got when she had caught me feeding our goldfish hotdog bits.

Eric gave me a wolfish grin, his fingers going to tug at the dark strands of my hair as he leaned in to whisper in my ear again. "Keep that attitude, little human."

"I have claimed her sister-" Bill snarled, trying a different track as Eric pulled away from me with an eye roll.

"Does claiming a human automatically make you their whole families protector now? I didn't think I was so far removed from our politics." Eric mused, his head tipping back as he turned a cool eye to Bill who looked absolutely enraged at being this tongue-tied. Eric's eyes slowly turned back to meet mine. "Did you drink from Mr. Compton, little human?"

This seemed like a trick question. I wasn't sure about claiming and everything but the way that Bill was looking at me - I knew that it mattered. It mattered and I sure as hell wasn't going to roll over even if Eric's presence did make me want to do exactly that. I blushed. And a little bit more. I couldn't lie. I sucked at lying. My lips pressed tightly shut, my eyes dropping to the floor.

It was a bad idea.

I gasped, trying to press down on my initial instinct to arch as Eric's fingers tangled in my hair, forcing me to meet his eyes. He was barely wearing anything. I was barely wearing anything. And he was pressing me to his front like I was another layer of clothing. I hissed out a breath, heat burning up my spine along with something more carnal. Bad thoughts. Bad thoughts. My mind went a little bit fuzzy as I felt the slow roll of his chest against mine, his abs contracting against my stomach. Dammit. I let out a squeak, agitated tears collecting in my eyes. This motherfucker had to be a spartan in his human life to have a body like his. It was a damn near injustice.

And he fucking knew it, the asshole.

Eric's lips tipped up even more, the fingers in my hair pulling a bit more as if he was reminding me. "Tell me."

 _Fuckity fucking fuck fuck FUCK!_

"No."

His smirk grew into a full-blown grin, his lips skimming along my ear. "Good girl."

And then he was pulling away with one final tug on my hair, the effect going straight to my own arousal. _Fuck all these vamps_ , I seethed, shooting a wilting glare towards Compton. I couldn't glare at stupid Eric. He would just laugh. Bill gave me an apologetic stare as the taller man turned to him.

"You have no claim here," he drawled nonchalantly. With a mockingly sympathetic final stare, Eric turned back to me, beginning his circling once more. I felt stripped bare. I felt like his eyes were hands, each sweep running over my bare skin. My arms, my waist, my breasts. Heat rolled up my neck. " _Runa_."

The way he said it sent hot coals up my spine. Far from the awkward southern drawl that was accompanied with the unusual name, the way he said with was smooth. He rolled the initial r and made it sound like… something else. My eyes met his, my breath stalling as he circled in front of me. His eyes had gone calculating as they wandered over me, considering.

"Odd name for Louisiana," he mused and my eyes narrowed. He was testing the waters. He was digging around for something.

"The world is filled with odd things, Mr. Northman," I said thinly, my spine going ramrod straight.

"I think you can give me a better excuse than that. Come on. Be inventive."

I glared up at the tall man, meeting his eyes. "I didn't think I would have to defend my name. You might want to talk to my parents."

His teeth flashed as he grinned down at me. "I would love to talk to your mother and father, Mrs... _Stackhouse_."

My jaw worked. "They're dead. You can go to their graves and try to resurrect them if you want though, Mr. _Northman_."

His brows quirked. "Is this where I'm supposed to say that I'm sorry?"

"As a matter of fact, it is."

"My apologies." He circled me again and I felt his eyes running along my back.

My voice dropped to open aggression. "Is there a point to this?"

"You look nothing like the blonde one," Eric stated blandly and my nose twitched. It was a tick of mine. I was so fucking pissed. This man was getting under my skin more than any other person on this planet that I had come across.

"I'm adopted."

"Last name?"

My tongue worked around the words that were about to spill from me. This wasn't going to be good. My eyes met his expectant ones.

" _Nóttelska_ ," I whispered and his lips twitched. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Bill shift as well.

" _Nótt elska,"_ He said it like my name was two different words. I blinked. And then before I could draw in another breath, he was beside me again, his fingers brushing back the hair at my neck as he took a deep breath. He was sniffing me, his nose traveling up my neck in a long inhale. " _Mara_."

"Eric." My eyes snapped toward the blonde woman standing just by the doors to the women's bathrooms, a sardonic smile curling her lips. "Hogging all the goodies already, _master_?"

The blonde man drew away from me, his fingers gently untangling from my hair as he rumbled out a laugh. That was when I realized that his fangs had come down. Shit. My heart shivered inside of my chest, the air that I had collected in my lunges suddenly going stale. How close had I been to being bitten? Would I have fought him? My body was definitely telling me that I might have been closer to throwing my arms around his neck and letting him suck the fucking life out of me. And then after that I might have ripped off my own panties for him. Fuck!

Pam's eyes met mine, her nose scenting the air as her fangs clicked down into place as well. "Smells like candy and sex."

"For another time," Eric said with a hint of humor in his voice, breaking away from me with what was becoming a tradition by tugging lightly at my hair.

"For yourself you mean," Pam said with a sigh, her eyes lingering as they traveled over me. She scowled across the room at the blonde man. "You always were a selfish bastard."

"Language," Eric chided with a smirk, wandering over to Bill.

Suddenly ice blue eyes were staring into mine, red lips pulled up in a sultry smirk.

"Pity," she drawled, one long nail running up my throat. "You would want to play with me, right? Boys don't know how it works."

Eric snorted across the room and I got the sense that he knew all too well how the female body worked. His eyes were translating that message loud and clear to me at the moment. Somehow I forced my eyes away from the sexual pits of absolute heat.

"I don't want to play with anyone in this bar at the moment." I gave her a thin smile. "Even the undead slush that Ginger's cleaning up right now."

The girl in question let out a bubbling sob, ending in a series of gags.

Throwing her head back, Pam gave a loud laugh and then gave me a long, sardonic stare. "Good for you. That's what I told myself when I was a good little human too."

I gave her a toothy, unhumourous smile, submitting to the southern belle accent that I had tamped down to a gentle lull. "Glad to still have the title."

"When Ginger is finished," Eric suddenly cut in, his gaze a blank mask as he stared down at the skinny blonde. His eyes flicked up as Pam gave a sigh and made her way to his side. "Glamor her for me."

Her brows tipped up. Across the room, I met Bill's eyes and blatantly ignored the accusation in them.

"Are you sure? She's been glamored one too many times already. Who knows how much of her's left."

I kept my mouth shut. I knew exactly the answer to that question.

My eyes skated across the bloody floor, slick with tendons and melted down muscle. Her dark eyeliner had smudged, slithering down her chin to make her face a grotesque mask. It was a testament to her usefulness that they hadn't simply hauled her into the back and drank her into a rubber glove of bones and skin.

Even I could sense how badly she had been damaged. Her fears were white around the edges and so numerous that they could fill the entire sky. She was a broken record that was skipping and repeating the same song.

"Either that or turn her." Eric looked decidedly blank to the option. "Want her?"

Across the room, Bill shifted, his brows furrowing at anger. Apparently he didn't approve of how laxly they were tossing around the option of turning a human. But how much could you call someone a human when they were so warped on the inside? She barely had her fears and nightmares to herself.

"Please," Pam scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not that desperate. Glamor it is."

"Excellent," Eric murmured and I quickly lowered my gaze back to the floor as I felt his eyes run to me. There was no way that I was going to let him try out that little trick on me. Through my lashes, I saw shadows pass by. A hulking shadow with blonde hair. "Come. I'll buy you a blood."

For some reason, I didn't think he was talking to me. My shoulders relaxed. I let out a breath. No more questions. No more sexual tension.

Too soon. I drew in a sharp breath, stilling as fingers brushed over my chin. "I'll be seeing you soon, _nótt elska._ "

My nose twitched. My hands clenched. I glared up at the man. "You vampires must not have a good sense of time if you think I'll be sniffing around here again."

He smirked, a thumb running roughly over my bottom lip. I snarled, my teeth snapping shut as I tried to give him a warning bite. Which only seemed to make him hungry, his eyes swirling darkly.

"The next time you come here I doubt there will be any…" He grinned, his fangs clicking down. " _Sniffing_."

 _Infuriating man_ , I seethed, watching as he whooshed away with puppy dog Bill right behind him. I wanted to punching him in the face but I was pretty sure that he would rip me to shreds if I even raised my hand.

"Don't get too sexually frustrated, doll," Pam drawled on her way past with a sobbing Ginger. "You might make me do something that would upset my master."

And with that I was left alone. In a bar filled with the smell of deceased vampire. I huffed, shoving a chair back and sitting heavily in it. I had a lot to digest. First was the fact that there was dead vamp on my converse. Second was the fact that Eric had said a lot of freaky fucking stuff. And he pronounced both my first and last name - well. I rubbed a hand over my eyes. It had sounded right. I had never heard my name pronounced like that before but it had sounded right. Which was infuriating and maddening and plain crazy and so fucking scary on so many levels.

 _Mara_. He had whispered that. _What did it mean?_ My brows knit together, my nails working at a small scratch in the granite table. The word pulled at something in the back of my mind the feeling similar to having a string stuck in a jagged nail. But there was no fucking way I was coming back to this asshole for answers. I would sooner dig my own grave and try to turn myself into a vampire so that I could become Bill Compton's fuck girl for the night.

I rolled the answers around my head, trying to pin down a way to spell out the word. So many different variations. _Maera. Maira. Mara. Ma_ -

"Runa." My eyes snapped up, my neck cracking as I looked up to find Sookie. Dressed in a leather corset and skirt. Her eyes welled up for a moment before she pushed it down and walked slowly over to me, her steps halting and slightly pigeon toed. No wonder. She was wearing fuck-me pumps.

"New kink I should know about?" I whispered, coughing as my voice came out raspy.

Sookie ignored me, coming to sit next to me, her eyes sliding to the mess. "What did he say? Eric Northman?"

My heart squeezed painfully. I forced a smile. "He said that I was fucking bangable and that he would like to ride me til his vampire instincts made him go dead again in the sunlight."

My sisters gagged, slapping my arm. "Runa, ew."

"I declined," I offered innocently, my nail scraping along the mark more insistently until a gentle screech filled the room. "But then he took your boyfriend to the back and I…"

I gulped, my eyes flicking to the back room as worry surged through me. I hated to say that Compton had burrowed a little hole inside me. He had tried to defend me. And it was so fucking easy to make fun of him.

"This isn't going to go away is it?" Sookie whispered and I squeezed my eyes shut, my fingers curling through hers. I didn't say anything. She knew it wasn't going to just disappear. The puddle of snow-vamp gush at our feet was proof of that. The hunky blonde vampire in the room giving Compton a little "chat" was proof of that.

And the promise that leashed us to Eric Northman was proof of that.

But my sister didn't need to hear all that from me. She already knew.

"Sookie." Both of us snapped to attention at the deep voice. Bill was heading towards us. I winced. And he did not look happy. We could talk about it in the car.

Scrambling down from my perch, I made an Olympic race towards the door. I would have gotten gold.

"Let's blow this blood bank," I whispered, already opening the door and sliding in.

No comments. We made the trip home in relative silence.

"She's all drama and theatrics." Bill was making a big show of not letting on that he was in giant horse shit. I followed a few steps behind, my head ringing softly. I just wanted a fucking shower and a night's sleep. All the fears that I had drawn out from all those humans was getting to me.

We made our way up the steps, Bills hand in Sookie's as he opened the door and sent me a reassuring smile.

"I assure you everything's going to be fine."

Everything was far from fine.

* * *

 _You guys know how to keep me updating!_

 ** _Old Norse:_**

 _Nótt Elska : Night Love_


	5. Chapter 5

_I was going to publish this tomorrow but I thought that if I gave you guys some extra love, you would turn it back on me._

 _ **permisable** : Lol. Your comment made me laugh, it was so out of the blue. I didn't even think twice about that sentence in last chapter._

 _ **Rakeun91** : I can't give away all my secrets! I promise you that it will come out in the next two chapters though._

 _ **MicroSpider** : Thank you!_

 _ **lozzylol16** : I'm so happy that my writing is a good end of the day-esque ritual. You're always welcome to distress with my characters! By the way, I love your picture. So cute._

 _ **time-twilight** : Secrets, secrets~ I promise that it'll be revealed soon though. Cross my heart._

 _ **str8jacket** : Doesn't he always? :)_

 _ **X Blue Eyed Demon X** : Thank you!_

* * *

 _Chapter Five: Cher (And Other Things That We Say)_

Good sex and a shower. That was how I dealt with unnecessary emotions like grief.

I got a shower.

"Fuck," I murmured softly to myself, watching the dribbles of water splash from my skin and onto the wall. There was nothing sanitary about showering in Cooper Abellard's shower. He had beer bottles in the goddamn bathroom, spilling from the sink and tumbling from the waste basket. "Fuck dammit."

Unwanted, images of Tina flashed through my mind. It shouldn't have matter. It shouldn't have made my jaw tighten and the feeling of tears building up behind my eyes start. But dammit, it did. It was more than the fucking cat. It was that he had just walked into our house _again_. And when he had found Sookie and me out, he had gone for the only other living thing in our house.

He had killed our fucking cat.

I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my forehead to the browning tile of the shower walls. He had grabbed her, stupid Tina who thought that everyone was a friend. He had picked her up, cooed her to him and then he had pulled out a knife and sawed through her throat, yanking off her skull like it was a fucking bottle cap. I drew in a shaking breath, turning off the shower quickly and opening the curtains.

Something like a fucking cat dying shouldn't have made me bawl like a child. Not after my Gran's death. But getting into a beat up yellow car, vamp blood and Tina's mixing into my converse, I had shut down. I had screamed and cussed and sobbed into my wrists until I didn't have anything left. And then I had tucked it all inside me. And after a couple shots, I went to Cooper Abellard's and had sex with him until he fell asleep, his chest shivering as he let out chainsaw-like snores.

"Up so early, baby?" _Oh jesus_. By the way that he was staring at me, I had definitely given him the wrong impression. He was smiling at me like I was going to marry him after tonight. I hid a grimace, forcing on a strained smile as I took in the disheveled mess of sandy blonde hair and overgrown morning stubble. And then the rest of Cooper Abellard. He had an okay body - the ones that you kind of shrug at and move on. Unwanted, blonde hair and the body of a spartan flashed through my mind. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Mutely, I let him pull me closer to press a lingering kiss to my cheek, his fingers running down the slick curve of my spine and then to my hips. Against my stomach I felt the tell-tale press of his open excitement at having a naked female in his bathroom. I let out a strained laugh, gently pressing him away from me.

"Early bird gets the worm, darling," I said, reaching for a towel to dry myself off and finding nothing on the racks. What was I expecting? The man didn't even have a goddamn matt on the floor in front of the shower.

"And what a worm it is," Cooper laughed and I held back a yelp as he slapped my ass. Desperately, I tried to hold in my self control. I was the one who had given him the wrong impression. I was the one who had come to his door and then kissed him back into the hallway and into his bedroom.

Now he was standing here wanting to go another round. A round that would last about as long as it would take me to heat up a hot pocket and be about as entertaining.

Reaching up, I patted his cheek. "Listen, honey I know you might be thinkin' an awful lot about what this might mean-"

"I think it's pretty obvious what it means," he growled and before I could speak, he was lunging forward, his tongue like a fish as he forced it into my mouth. Apparently he thought wiggling made _every_ activity better for the opposite sex.

I shoved his face away, spatting on reflex at the stale breath and beer on my tongue. When I looked back up, I was remiss to see that his cheeks had gone red. Skipping quickly through embarrassment, he went straight to angry.

"I'm sorry," I amended, pulling back until there was a bit of space between us. "I gave you the wrong impression-"

"You had sex with me," he stated blandly, his color rising.

"I know and it was-" I cut myself off. Mistake was a very big word. And kind of insulting.

"Aw, fuck no, Runa" he hissed, running a hand through his hair. His eyes went dark as a blood vessel in his forehead pulsed a purple SOS signal. "I knew I shouldn't have fucked a _fucking_ Stackhouse."

I reeled back. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

His eyes met mine, mean and disgusted. "You're brothers a fucking serial maniac dipshit who killed a bunch of fangbangers and your sister - Well, she _is_ a fucking fangbanger. Your whole fucking family's weird. I should have listen to Royce-"

I seethed, my eyes narrowing as anger took over. "I almost forgot what a little bitch you are. Does it feel nice having Royce's leash around your neck twenty four seven or does it get itchy?"

Pain stung up my scalp as his fingers fist in my hair, dragging my head back as his whole body slammed me into the wall. Fuck. I bit back my resulting wince, glaring up at him. Instinctively, my fingers had dug into the arm holding my head back. I hadn't noticed it before but the other arm was wrapped in gauze.

"I wouldn't say things like that-" He looked like he was building up for a good one, his teeth baring.

I slammed my knee into his junk, forcing his uninjured arm up so that I could dig my teeth into it for good measure. Metallic blood popped along my tongue as he howled, his fingers instantly released their hold on my hair.

Spitting out the sickly red stuff onto the ground beside him, I dug my fingers into the root of his hair, forcing his eyes to mine as he stuttered out a couple of pathetic, halting sobs. I wanted us to be on the same page for this next one.

"You touch me again, Cooper and instead of my knee, I'll shove a pair of scissors into your dick."

His face paled. I shoved him away from me, stepping over his body and out into his small apartment. Fuck taking my time. I would rather go outside looking like a prostitute than spend another minute in this dump. Boiling, I stormed toward the door, yanking an oversized tank that had a bit too much side-boob to be considered a fashion statement and my discarded capris by the door.

I was out the door and in my car making my way down the sleepy roads of Bon Temp within second. Against my naked arms and shoulders, I felt the seats sizzling my skin into seared flesh. It was nothing to how pissed I was at this moment. I should have thrown his naked ass out into the streets and locked the door. I frowned. Then I would have had to wait around in his nasty apartment. On second thought, I should have just taken the room that Bill had offered me. That was where Sookie had gone.

But fuck I had just wanted to feel someone's flesh against my own. Maybe I had wanted to wash off the blood that I had practically bathed in last night.

Or maybe some even more fucked up part of me, the dark carnal one that enjoyed the overwhelming power that came with my gift of nightmares and fears, had wanted to satisfy some of the lust that had been shoved into me by Eric Northman.

"FUCK!" I shrieked, the word bouncing off the windows of my small car as I slammed on the brakes in the middle of the road, hitting the steering wheel in my frothing anger.

I panted, pressing my forehead to the overheated, worn leather of the wheel, blinking futilely against tears. There was nothing else to do. I cried like a baby. I cried like I did when I was little and I wanted to see my parents. Or even remember a simple detail about them other than their names. I cried like I had when I had seen Tara get hit by her Mama and then crumple like a beat dog in the dirt of our driveway. I cried for every fucked up thing that had happened in the past 25 years of my life.

I cried until I had to stop, snot and tears mising into a gooey mess on my face. Sniffing, I pulled Cooper's stinky, beer stained tank up, soppy up the mess. And then I looked around, my eyes stinging as I finally took in the fact that my car was still sitting in the middle of the road but that no one had come by.

And that I had stopped just in front of the construction crews parked cars, all of the men oblivious to me as they took their lunch break. Or what should have been their lunch break. It had turned into a full on brawl just outside of my window. I blinked. With my brother right in the middle of it.

"I COULD GIVE A _FUCK_ IF YOU SORRY!" Rene screamed in his thick cajun accent, his face going red as he gave Jason a good shove before Lafayette and Hoyt were pulling him away. I rubbed a hand over my eyes, trying to check my sight. Rene never got angry. It was one of the few unsettling things I found about him. "I'M ABOUT TO GET MARRIED! THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT COUNT ON! ME!"

What had just happened? Shoving away from Lafayette, Rene wandered off back to the car, still seething. I followed him with my eyes, watching as he pulled off his gloves. My nose twitched. My mind clicked. It felt like something was wrong. Rene's fingers were bandaged with little baby band-aides. Why did that feel wrong?

Back by the tree, a power tool absently left at it's base, Hoyt was staring at Jason like he was worried. Hoyt was always worried though. When Dawn had died, he had been the only one to dream of helping her, his efforts futile but brave. He was a sweetheart. Gently, the bigger man placed a hand on my brother's shoulder.

"Aw _hell_ no," I hissed, getting out of the car quickly and slamming the door shut as I stormed across the street as Jason grabbed ahold of Hoyt's t shirt, his face twisting in anger.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, JASON STACKHOUSE?!" I made my way up the steep incline, the muscles of my back tensing beneath my tank as my brother shoved away from Hoyt Fortenberry. My stupid fucking brother had just got done nearly killing Rene and now he was going after the biggest teddy bear in Bon Temp.

"I was just-" Jason started but I shoved him, watching as he stumbled a couple steps back.

"You were just being the biggest dick to someone that wanted to be nice to you?" I hissed, watching as he lowered his head. Behind me, I felt Hoyt shift, his hand coming out to rest on my shoulder and draw my attentions to him.

"It's really alright, Runa-" He actually looked sincere.

"The fuck it is," I snapped, turning back to my brother. "Say you're sorry."

Jason's jaw worked and I snarled out breath, sending him a withering glare. "Sorry."

"Do I have to be your mother?" I questioned, shoving him again for good measure after Hoyt had nodded quickly and wandered over to where Rene and Lafayette were talking by the truck. "Huh? You want me to babysit you now, Jason?"

I hadn't forgotten how he had hit Sookie. Or blamed her for Gran's death. And then disappeared afterwards and come back into town without so much as a call. I hadn't even know that he was around until Tara told me. His big, puppy dog eyes stayed on the ground, his fingers clenching and unclenching at his side as he swallowed.

Dammit. When he had the expression on his face, I couldn't help but lose most of my steam. I sighed, reaching out to draw him into a hug. His taller body seemed to wilt around me, his head dropping to press against my hair and his shoulders slumping.

"You should have called," I whispered.

"You don't want to hear from me," he mumbled. "And I don't blame you. I was awful. Horrible. I didn't mean…"

Against the top of my head, I felt him shake his head. When Gran had died, he had taken it hard. I knew that. I knew that he felt guilty for being against her when it came to Bill and I knew that he felt weak. Jason may have been dumb as a duck but he was kind. And he cared.

I pulled away, giving him a hard look. "You gotta stop doing dumb shit, Jase."

A derisive snort burst from him and he shook his head ruefully. "Easy for you to say. You were always the smart one."

I smiled, turning him gently for the men who had turned to stare at us. Giving him a gentle shove, I nodded. "You go tell Rene sorry. You _did_ almost kill him."

"He was about to kill the tree," Jason defended, flicking a hand towards the roots like they were a living, breathing evidence board.

"Maybe you should consider not being a construction work than, honey," I drawled and he let out a grumble, shuffling down the side of the hill.

Down below, like a child, I saw him rub a hand over his neck, mumbling out a few words of apology. Dumb as a duck but sweet as a kitten. After a few moments, I went down as well.

"You all coming to Merlotte's tonight?" I inquired, earning me a sardonic stare from Lafayette.

"Baby girl, that place is my religion," he said with a bitter twist to his lips. "I eat it, sleep it, and breath it in until I come back smelling like hick ass and burnt fries."

Hoyt snickered, his eyes flicking to meet mine shyly. Lafayette's eyes flicked over me quickly, his smile going sly.

"But you look like you have your own religion there, baby," he said with a smirk. "Tell me who the man is and I'll make sure not to steal him from you."

"Cooper Abellard." The black man's smile instantly soured.

"I thought you had better taste than that, honey."

"Apparently all the Stackhouse's are running a record of being incredibly desirable in the sack but bad at choosing the straw to fill the bag with," I sighed, earning me an affronted look from Jason. Hoyt had gone oddly silent, his eyes downcast and his lips tugged down. I turned my attention to the last man. "What about you? Any plans?"

"Ya," Rene said with a nod, leaning back against the truck. "A' lene geds all _boudering_ if I don' come when she works."

"Women," Jason quipped and I rolled my eyes, sensing that it was time that I left.

"Yeah. Women." I walked around the men, heading straight for my car and then stalled out as Rene turned to me.

"You a goo' ki', cher." He gave me a small smile and then patted my cheek, letting me continue on my way.

I stayed where I was. Blood. My skin shivered as if it were a fur coat ruffling in the wind. I stared at the side of Rene's face.

He had been thinking about Dawn. Thinking about all of them. Not just them. One other one too. A girl that had the same eyes as him. I gulped, backing away. His nightmares were made of them, all still alive, moaning underneath withering men with fangs.

I got in the car.

There was nothing wrong with that. It was okay to have such nightmares but usually - usually the women were all dead. Or dying. That was a fear. That was a reason to go to sleep at night with a shiver and your throat tight. I shook my head, turning my keys in the ignition.

Why did it all seem so...itchy? Disgusting? Unsettling? Someone behind me honked and I jerked, forcing myself out of my own thoughts with a start. My eyes snapped to the time on my radio and I cussed. I had to be at Merlotte's in two hours for the evening shift. Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, I headed home. Sookie had told me that she would be coming back early to clean up the house. I had thought that I would be able to help her but…

My lips thinned as I turned onto my road. And I still had to look up that _mara_? _Mare_? _Meara_? Whatever that big, hunk of a bloodsucking spartan had called me. My head spun.

Things seemed to be getting more twisted than my grandmother's nightgown.

* * *

 _As always, if you're interest and want to see more than please show me by follow or favorite. And if you can't leave me a little note. Those things always make me update quicker. ;) *wink wink nudge nudge*_

 _ **Boudering** : A Cajun word for pouting._

 _ **Cher** : The Cajun way to say cherie and a term of endearment._


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: I feel like it's been so long since I've posted a chapter! But I'm back, baby!_

 _ **str8jacket** : I'm glad that you liked that bit. I don't usually agree with characters that know everything right off but I couldn't just let him get away with it when she has those abilities._

 _ **X Blue Eyed Demon X** : As you requested._

 _ **HarryPotterFreakie** : Aw, thank you! I'm so happy that it's a story that you like._

 _ **permisable** : While I was writing it, I was even a little bit grossed out._

 _ **Martha Van Vires** : Thank you! Hope you like this chapter!_

 _ **Nekokitten1123** : Thank you! And here's your update!_

* * *

 _Chapter Six: Plaisir D'Amour_

"Do I look like a waitress, Sam?" The shaggy haired man standing just outside my bar ran a hand over his face, his eyes tired. Taking the towel from my shoulder, I wiped down my counters where some beer had spilled over from the taps. Not only did I have to serve my regular drunks at my bar but I also had to give the waitresses their drinks. And tonight Merlotte's was packed to spilling over.

"You get half of the tips that my waitresses earn," he said sardonically and I gave him an indulgent smile as I grabbed my shaker and the whiskey from my wall.

"That's because everyone in fucking Lousiana drinks, honey." I gave Tim a sharp glance as he made an indignant snort, his flabby double chin going red as he puffed up like a rooster. He was one of the drunkest motherfuckers in Bon Temp. And that was saying something in a town full of drunks. I glanced back at Sam as I poured some ice, Scotch Whiskey, vermouth, cherry heering, and orange juice into my shaker and started in on the task. "And who makes the drinks here, Sam?"

"You do, Runa," he said tiredly, rubbing a hand over his face as Old Lady Margaret snorted, the sound going off into giggles as she swayed over her gin and tonic. I quirked my brow at him.

Snapping my gum, I took a tip where Dave had just been sitting, shoving it into my back pocket and poured the sandalwood liquid from my shaker and into a martini glass, taking a wedge of orange from the cutting board and onto the rim. My heels clicked dangerously as I stalked toward him, my feet already aching in these Timberland stiletto boot death traps as I took up the drink. Carefully, I set the drink down in front of him, leaning in to run a hand over Sam's heavily stubbled jaw.

I gave him a slow smile as the familiar scent of smoky citrus drifted from the glass. "Unless you want to pay me double…"

I had had a long day. My cat had died and her skull had been removed as some sick psychos trophy(although that excuse seemed to be getting old quickly.) Bad sex. No coffee. Shitty tips. By the way that Cooper and his little hoard of redneck homophobes were looking over here and snickering, the blonde was making a couple quick jibes at my expense. If I took up the extra slack of serving my alcohol out to the crowded mayhem of Merlotte's than I would surely be going to their table. They couldn't go a meal without a beer. And if I had to do that I might as well make it worth my while.

"Dammit, Runa," Sam snarled, his blue eyes flashing angrily as he frowned at me, moving his head away from the touch as Sookie walked past. His eyes flashed as he stared at me with a frown. "Why can't you be more like your sister?"

It stung. He knew that it would. I let my hand drop, leaning away from him as his eyes suddenly went soft, his expression almost wilting in regret. Apparently, he had been dealing with some shit too.

"Aw, damn," he cussed softly, tugging at his hair again. "Runa, I didn't-"

"I'll wait the fucking tables, Sam Merlotte but after this is done you better pray that I don't come back here and kick your shaggy ass," I hissed, grabbing up a clean towel to throw over my shoulder and an apron from under the bar and tied to harshly over my ripped jeans, fumbling angrily with the belt around my waist.

"Take off your clothes, sexy lady and I'll give you a bigger tip!" Dave yelled from down the bar, wandering back from the bathrooms and I gritted my teeth, pushing out from behind the bar before I could do anything that would get Sam a lawsuit.

"You can get that double, Runa," Sam whispered, his eyes flicking to the ground as he moved out of my way as I stormed over to the area where the trays were kept. I glanced back at him.

"If I got the double now, I would feel like a bitch," I answered honestly, wishing for the millionth time that I had brought along my Merlotte's shirt instead of worn a black beaters tank and these fucking heels. But skimpy got me tips. Tara stalked past me into the bar right after Sam, her eyes flaming and her stride long as her fingers convulsed on a envelope in her hands.

I was half tempted to stick around and see what the deal was.

"What's your goddamn order?" I snarled out, flipping open my pad and staring down at Cooper and his Queen, Royce. I couldn't say that I particularly knew the other little pups name. Bon Temp was a small town but I wasn't particularly into the habit of hanging around with Royce's little boy band. The only reason I knew Cooper was because he had worked at Merlotte's as a waiter. Up until he got involved with Royce and decided that he was too good for the place.

"Woah, honey," the dirty blonde drawled out, leaning back in his chair like he was the fucking King of England. Cooper's eyes were razor sharp and mean as they stared up at me, a nasty smile curling his lips. Across from him, the other one snickered. "I thought you were supposed to serve us. Customer service. Being nice."

So that was how we were going to play it. I gave them a thin smile, shifting my weight to a hip. This was going to take some time apparently. It was a good thing that they had picked a table so close to the main entrance, situated right in the middle of the bar and grill like a stage. The moment I had walked over here, I had drawn most of the attention. Now the masses had grown muted as their radars for gossip beeped, Arlene stopping to stare as she sat beside Rene. The new girl, a curly haired brunette with her hair pushed away from her head with a scarf, gazed over at us with wide eyes.

"Well, ain't you a _peach_ ," I said acidically, flipping my notepad shut, I leaned onto the table, watching as Royce gave a hoot like he was getting a fucking strip show. I met his eyes, lowering my voice so that only him and his little crew could hear me. "Now you listen to me, Royce Williams and you listen real good. Either you give me your fucking order or I'm going to go into the back and pull it out of the trash. Now... What'll it be, _honey_?"

"You can't talk to me like that-" he snarled out, trying to rise but only stumbling back into his seat as I shoved him.

"I can talk to you backwater hicks any fucking way I want to. This is my goddamn job and Sam Merlotte and the rest of this fucking town know what little dicks you and your puppy's are. Who do you think is gonna get kicked out of here tonight? Runa Stackhouse or Royce Williams?" I gave him a patient stare, my hand still pressing into his shoulder. Both of the other two had gone oddly quiet. It was Royce who wore the balls in their relationship and it was Royce who spoke for everyone. I rarely heard Cooper speak two words when he was around the other man.

"The customer's always right," Royce said weakly, his teeth baring back in a snarl as he threw out his last attempt at fighting back. I gave him a smile, leaning back to flip open my notepad and click my pen.

"Why, you're quite right, Royce," I said, letting my smile drop. "And I choose who's my fucking customer. Now, you gonna play nice or do I have to go get my sister's vamp so that he can suck the living life right out of your hick skin?"

The way that they reacted to that last part unsettled me. Royce gave a low snicker along with the one I didn't know and Cooper glanced down at his bandaged arm, fiddling with the gauze like a child caught with his hand in the molasses jar. My eyes narrowing, a tingling starting in the back of my mind. I wanted to look through their dreams - my fingers and mind itched for it. Against the back of my mind, I felt the familiar press of Sookie but I pushed her away roughly, concentrating on the task in front of me.

"Yeah. You go and do that, honey," Royce snorted. "Tell him that I'll bring my fucking lighter fluid."

"I got the matches," the one that I didn't know howled.

My jaw set. I didn't fucking like Bill Compton. I was big enough to admit that. But there was an odd protectiveness that came with Royce saying that. It probably came from the knowledge that Sookie was infatuated with the vamp and that there was no way that I would let her be hurt like she had been when we had found those coffins.

"What's your order, Royce?" I forced out and he ran a cool eye over me. "And if you fucking say my name, I swear to god, I will make sure that everyone in Bon Temp sees how much of a little bitch you are. Right here. Right now."

"Not like everyone hasn't already gotten a piece of the great Runa Stackhouse," I heard Cooper mumble out and I resisted the urge to flinch.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Royce said, his hand reaching out lazily to stroke along my thigh.

I slammed the heel of my Timberlands into his toe, sending him slamming forward into the table on reflex as he cussed. Lunging forward, I grabbed a good chunk of his greasy hair and jerked it back, his adam's apple bobbing as I sneered down at him. Royce's eyes flicked to my teeth. I wasn't sure if Cooper had let out the fact that I had bit a good chunk of his skin off or not but there was no way that he could hide that, the skin still raw and bleeding a bit, exposed as though Cooper hadn't even thought to put anything on it.

"What's your fucking order?" I hissed out slowly, forcing a little bit of the fucked up reality into his mind. Afraid of being gay. Afraid of liking men because he had too much ignorance and stupidity forced into him by his daddy. My fingers tightened even more in his hair as I saw his eyes dilate, sweat rolling down his neck. Still afraid of his daddy and wanting to force some of that back out onto the world. I turned it all in, staring down at his quivering lips as I saw Cooper lean away, shuddering.

"Fried - fried ste - steak," he whispered out and I gave him an indulgent smile, leaning away from him. I glanced to the other two, quickly scribbling down the order.

"Runa, I can take this table." It was the new girl, she was approaching me like I assumed a zoo trainer would approach a pack of wolves. She gave the table a tight smile and a nod like she was some fucking savoir that had wandered across them in the wilderness.

"Well, that's real nice of you…" I searched for her name, trying to filter through my memory before giving up. "But I think we're all having such a nice evenin', it'd be a shame to split us up. Aint we, boys?"

I flicked my eyes back to the table. With Royce thoroughly disarmed, the remaining two were left to nod meekly, their eyes flicking to their pale leader. I gave her my best smile, staring at her until she eventually had to wander away. Expectantly, I turned back to the table.

"Ribs with potato salad," the one I didn't know mumbled. At my quirked brow, he gulped, looking back at the menu. "Corona."

"Fried chicken with corn and kale. Coors," Cooper said, his eyes flicking worriedly to Royce.

"I'll be right back with your order," I said sweetly.

And with that I stalked to the back window.

"You one nasty hooker," Lafayette mused as I handed over the ticket, giving him a sardonic smirk. He gave me a tsk and went to his grill, flipping a couple burgers. "Who taught you to be that down and…"

My brows furrowed. Lafayette had gone two shades lighter, his words stumbling off into mute silence and his whole body stilling as his eyes wandered over my shoulder. Very few things could shut him up. Shut the whole bar up for that matter. I turned, my breath freezing in my lunges as I saw a familiar figure wander lazily through the doors of Merlotte's, a smirking blonde and a chubby Asian man just behind him. Eric's eyes flicked over the place, clearly unimpressed.

Standing just by the bar with Sookie, Bill looked like he was about to go to his own funeral, his eyes downcast and his smile sad as he talked with my sister.

My mind flashed uneasily back to the last meeting that I had had with all three of these vamps and my sister. That had ended with a dead Native American on the ground like a spille slushie. Haltingly, I made my way along the wall, stalling out just at the bar.

"Try and behave yourself," Bill whispered to the taller blonde as he headed to the back where Sam's office was. I crept closer to my sister, placing a hand on her back as I watched her brows crease in worry. Three vamps in our bar and they looked like they were scanning it for repossession.

 _Do you know what's going on?_ Sookie's voice seeped into my mind like diluted liquor. I had an odd feeling that Eric knew exactly where I was even though his back was turned to me, his head tipping to the side like he was listening in on every single breath that I took. Across the room, Pam gave me a toothy smile and a wink.

 _All I know is that we are so fucked,_ I forced back at her. Every human in this place had stilled, all of them like rabbits sensing a much larger, much more lethal animal.

"Aren't I always?" I heard Eric murmur. The Asian man walked past me, following Bill to the back. A monitor wasn't something that a secure man with his freedom usually had.

 _That can't be good,_ Sookie thought, her eyes following the men as she started to gnaw reflexively at her nails.

 _Maybe he's like a security guard,_ I thought back. _Protection. That would be good. Everyone needs an extra safety blanket._

She gave me a sardonic glance. _He's a vampire not Madonna, Runa._

"Humans!" I jumped at the sudden, booming voice, glancing up to see that Eric was taking in the bar with a slow, sarcastic kind of consideration. His eyes met mine for the briefest of moments, his lips quirking up before he was continuing his inspection. "Those who present this card at the door when you get to Fangtasia - first round's on me."

Booze. I smirked. He was completely leaving out the fact that it was a vamp bar made for fangbangers and the like. The marketing was probably pressed towards the people who were either too dumb to car or too out of the loop to know. Cuz everyone knew that free alcohol would get Bon Temp anywhere.

"Also," Pam chimed in, handing out a stack of cards like she was giving out free cupcake coupons at a marketing event. "Thursday nights are ladies nights so be sure to bring a date."

Her mouth flicked down as she came to Royce's table, the man in question taking a card meekly. The one who I didn't know was looking at her legs like it was an all you can eat buffet.

Smiling thinly, she handed it over. "If you can get one."

My eyes rolled to Cooper as he gave a snort and Pam moved his way to give him a card.

"She got you," he smirked, leaning back to take the card.

"Not him," Eric suddenly snapped, his attention diverted from the table that he was at. I stilled, my stomach knotting up. Beside me, I felt Sookie's eyes boring into the side of my skull, her mind pushing against mine until I forcefully shoved her out. Briefly, Eric's eyes met mine, his nose flaring like he was scenting the air and then slowly flicking back to Cooper. My heart wiggled it's way into my throat, my palms going sweaty. "He doesn't get one."

"What gives, bro?" I physically flinched, reeling back at Cooper's complete lack of situational awareness. Maybe with Bill this comment would have been handled with the familiar southern civilness that scented Louisiana like a bouquet of flowers. But in my short time knowing Eric, I got the sense that he wasn't Southern. And that he was far older than the terms of civility. Eric Northman was born and bred of something a lot hardier and deadlier. Blood and metal.

Eric was on him in a second, one hand grasping the back of Cooper's chair until I saw it splinter a bit and the other leaning on the table until all I could see were a few wisps of Cooper's hair peeking around the broad shoulders. Pam's lips tipped up a bit, her eyes flicking to watch me.

"Whatcha do to your arm there?" he rumbled and I couldn't help the resulting shiver that rolled through me. Slowly, he leaned even closer, his eyes closing for a minute as he breathed in and then moved to the gauzed part on Cooper's other arm. Arctic pools met mine. I gulped, heat rolling up my neck, my hands clenching. He knew every little dirty secret I had. Lazily, he turned back to Cooper. " _Bro_?"

"N-nothin'," Cooper whispered out, the words quivering.

"Hm?" Eric rumbled darkly, the muscles in his back tensing. I stiffened even more, my arms curling around my waist as Cooper's eyes caught mine. Cautiously, he moved both of his arms out of view, under the table.

Fear rushed through his veins like a stampede of horses across the plains. If he wasn't afraid of vamps before, he surely was now.

Two dark figures came around the corner, Bill's face set in grave lines, his lips thinned as his eyes zeroed in on Sookie who straightened beside me.

"I take it your business here is done." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. Bill's new shadow definitely wasn't a new bodyguard.

"I came here to talk to Sookie," he snarled and I stiffened as Eric straightened, the two men turning to face each other. The hairs on my neck stood on end. If this turned into a brawl, I was pretty sure that Bill would lose. And there would be nothing that me or my sister could do.

Eric considered, his eyes wandering lazily to me before he nodded. "I'll give you three minutes. I have a tribunal to get to."

" _What_?" Sookie hissed as Bill made his way towards us, his expression somehow darkening even more from the thundercloud of graveness that it had been before. It was all and all storming inside the man's mind at the moment.

"Come with me," he whispered, his eyes flicking to me briefly as he gave me a curt nod and took my sister by the shoulder to lead her into the parking lot. I stared after them, my heart twisting painfully in my chest.

There were two options in front of me: Stay in the safety of the bar and leave my sister to her lovers and their current situation or weather the storm with her like a personal bodyguard.

In the end, I didn't get to make the decision.

"It seems like you've been keeping bad company while I was away, _nótt elska_." I gulped back a shudder at the deep voice, turning to stare up at the imposing figure looming all around me, his eyes like bullets piercing my flesh. He gave me a slow smile, his hand coming out to rest in the curve of my back. "Come on. You are needed as well."

What was there to say? What was I supposed to do? Throw a tantrum and kick and scream in the middle of Merlotte's? I set my jaw, giving him a withering glare as I ripped off my apron and pushed past him to make my way to the door. _Egotistical vampire-douche_.

"My, my," I heard Pam murmur appreciatively. "You always did like them feisty."

A deep rumbling chuckle. "Like you're one to talk." And then suddenly his voice was booming around the bar again as my hand pressed to the door, just about to open it. "Oh, before I go, a word of advice… We know when a human has wrong us. We can smell it."

 _I_ could smell it. The stench was almost suffocating, fear and more fear piling on top of each other like creatures clawing at each other to reach the top of a mountain of dead bodies. I gagged, pressing a hand to my mouth as the stench overwhelmed me, my teeth aching like I had eaten too much candy.

"So do not make the mistake of letting the pretty blonde vampire on the television make you feel too comfortable." Eric's cool presence pressed into my back, a hand coming to the crook of my spine again as he looked around slowly. "We may not have retaliated. Yet. But we know who you are. Have a nice night."

It was like giving someone a lollipop after beating the shit out of them. There was nothing but mocking consideration in that last line, his nod less than sincere as he gently pushed me to open the door. I did so with more than a little relief, my insides twisting around the needs and terror of the people still sitting in the bar and grill like sardines in a can. They were fermenting in their own nightmares.

"Well, that was fun," Pam drawled as we made our way into the parking lot. Sookie and Bill standing in the middle like two lovers, one about to ship off to war. Pam took my other side, her smile indulgently indifferent. "We should make more nights like this in the future."

"I didn't take you for the social type," I whispered as I picked up on bits and pieces of the conversation between Bill and Sookie.

"Oh, honey," she said, flashing me a smirk. "Social is my _business_ of choice."

That was an oddly eerie way to put it.

"You smell like human," Eric suddenly rumbled and I glanced up, to see his nose wrinkled up as he leaned closer. Did he have to practice speaking in that mind-meltingly intoxicating way or did it just come naturally to him?

Looking away, I tried to wiggle my way from his grasp and only succeeded in having him pull me flush with his body, two big hands wrapping around my hips as he buried his face in my hair. He was breathing me in like I was a fucking cigarette.

"I _am_ human," I snarled out, my hands trapped against his chest. Which felt like stone coated in fucking metal.

"Close but not," he corrected, his lips mumbling the words into my ear and sending a jolt of awareness through me. " _Ykkarr mara_."

My head buzzed. My skin burned. My stomach clenched as a deep ache started inside me. He was speaking in that old, foreign tongue. One that I didn't understand but that made my head ache with familiarity. Like a place that I had grown to love long ago and had to leave. I took in a breath, gasping as the scent of salt on frigid air stung my nose along with the sweeter, hardier scent of fir trees. Why was it like this with him? Why did it feel like I didn't know myself?

"Why do you keep doing this?" I lashed out, my nails digging into the skin just beneath his black shirt. He didn't pull away from me, a low sound of interest roll through him as his nose made a cool line from my hair to my ear. He took a deep breath. I gritted my teeth. "I'm not your property. You cannot - will not haul me in and out my work place like I'm your fucking furniture. Do you hear me, Mr. Northman?"

Beside me, Pam snorted but kept her mouth shut. Against me, I felt a - was he purring? His chest was vibrating against mine, a slow kind of rumble rolling through him like a volcano before it erupted. His hands tightened on my hips, forcing a yelp from me and then stillness as I felt his lips reach my throat.

"Actually," he drawled and I gasped as I felt something chill move along my pulse. Was he - He was fucking licking me! Anger rolled over me. "According to the agreement that your blood made on your behalf, you are my property. For an indefinite amount of time."

"LET GO OF ME!" I shrieked, flailing wildly as I felt him lap along my jaw, one of his hands keeping me pinned against this front while the other tangled in my hair to keep my neck in his range. My vision popped, my hearing going dull as rage - simple and pure - took over. "YOU VAMPIRE DICK DOUCHE! You didn't even turn that vampire in. You can't hold us to that-!"

"Ah, but I can," he whispered, pausing to answer me. "You're sister's chosen one killed Longshadow. Not myself. Not Pam. You will be held to the same agreement that was made before your mistakes."

"I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD-"

He was too strong. Damn him. And I couldn't think of anything else to yell at him. What was I going to threaten him with? He had no trouble keeping me contained. If he wanted to, he had shown that he could take my heart out at any moment that he wanted to. I slammed my foot down, hoping to get at least a grunt if nothing else as I dug my heel into his foot. Not so much as a peep. He didn't even stop as he dragged his tongue along the side of my face, the hand on the small of my back making slow, coaxing circle. Damn him. Damn his stupid undead ass to hell and back.

"This is more fun than my last _bar mitzvah_ ," Pam drawled out and I pressed my lips together, making sure that every fucking bone and tendon in my body was plank board straight as the man continued on with his purring and licking like he had a fucking ice cream cone. Indignation was my main instinct. Indignation and anger. Like I was some pissed off old lady who hadn't gotten the right coffee cake from her servants.

Finally, he pulled away, staring down at me with a critical expression as he turned my head this way and that, sniffing. "That's a bit better."

"Finally done, you oversized heathen?" I seethed, glaring up at him.

"I haven't been called that in a very long time," he mused, smirking as he released me and I hurried to wipe off his saliva from my face. "Good. You should probably try to rub that into your wrists."

" _What_?" I hissed, turning to stare up at him.

"You're going to a tribunal, Runa. Not a tea party," he drawled, giving me a pondering glance. His nose wrinkled. "And smelling like bad habits and human isn't a good introduction."

"Well, excuse me," I hissed. I thought I smelled fucking amazing. After washing off the stench of Coopers - Oh. My mind clicked. _We can smell it._ If Cooper had done something wrong and I had slept with him, plus sunk my teeth - I cussed, grimacing as I rubbed my arms over my face and neck. Ew. Ew. Ew. Couldn't they just take me home?

"Tick tock, Bill." So that would be a no on the shower thing. Taking down my hair and combing through the series of braids, I sent a silent question up to my Gran on what I had done to piss God off and then rubbed my hands over my cheeks and began to comb it through my hair.

"At least this one isn't stupid," Pam said.

"Am I good?" I inquired blandly, trying not to think about the fact that I had just rubbed Eric's saliva into my skin like it was fucking lotion.

Blue eyes met mine with a bit of humor as he slowly leaned down and breathed in. His eyes dilated, his fangs clicking out as he met my gaze again. "Better. Now it smells like you just fucked me instead of that nasty little rodent inside your bar."

Then he just leaned away like it was the more normal thing to say, leaving me staring up at him like a sexually aroused bartender who had just met the sexiest man alive. Or dead.

"And time!" Eric called and I finally took in the fact that Sookie looked like she wasn't coming.

"Wait," I breathed, confusion clouding my vision. "You said you needed my - My sister, she's the mind reader-"

"Whoopty fucking doo," Pam drawled, leaning to one hip as she stared at the couple in the middle of the parking lot.

"Tonight we need a _mara_ , not…" His head tipped to the side. "Whatever your sister is."

I really needed to find out what this mara thing he kept talking about was. Angry tears collected in my eyes as I watched Bill and Sookie kiss. This was bad. I was going to a tribunal - whatever that meant. And if Bill looked like this - I tried to swallow around my sudden fear, irrational tears brought on my irrational, unwarranted circumstances and promises bringing it all crashing down on me. There was a _legitimate_ chance that I wouldn't come back from this. And that made me _legitimately_ scared out of my mind.

"If I had any feelings," Pam said. "I'd have the chills about now."

"Not me," Eric drawled, indifferently, his eyes flicking to me. Slowly, curiously a hand came out to run through my hair, giving one of my braids a gentle tug. "You will be under my protection at the tribunal. You have nothing to fear."

But I was. I was so scared that when I caught sight of Tara coming out of the bar, I wanted to run into her arms and weep like a babe. I didn't say anything, looking away.

"Bill," Eric barked in a warning so harsh that even I jumped. Tara's eyes met mine from her place near Merlotte's front door. She wouldn't come any closer. But in that one gaze I knew exactly what she was thinking. _What the fuck have you Stackhouse's gotten yourselves into?_ "Now."

Bill and Sookie pulled apart and I finally noticed the tears tracking her face and the anguish on his as he walked away. Her eyes followed him for a moment before suddenly clearing as they settled on me.

"Runa-" she started but I shook my head, pushing my mind open to embrace hers as I opened up a live projection.

 _"I'll make you a deal. If you promise to hand over the person who did this to the police, I'll agree to help you anytime you want."_

Her words thrown back at her like a slap that I never intended. Her face went paler than paint, her eyes widening as more futile tears spilled out.

"Runa, no-" I shook my head again, following Eric's direction on the base of my spine haltingly. She had used up all her time. I didn't have any way other than that memory to explain to her. My sister's eyes turned to Eric as Bill reached us, his expression contrite and pained as he met my gaze. "You can't-"

"I'll be back," I promised but my voice was shaking. I winced as I felt Eric's eyes on me. I refused to cry. I _refused_ to cry. My jaw tensed. "Don't you dare be stupid, Sookie. Don't you dare end up like Dawn and Maudette. I swear to God if I come back and you've gotten yourself killed-"

I stopped, close to breaking, my lips quivering as I looked at Sookie's stupid, doe eyes. She knew how to take care of herself. But so did Dawn. So did Maudette. They were skanks through and through but they knew how to survive in Bon Temp being open fangbangers and proud of it. My nails dug into my palms and I quickly turned away, stalking towards Tara as I felt Eric and Bill and Pam, and the other one following after me. I wasn't going to be the sulking human, stumbling along behind them. If I was going to this vampire only _fiesta_ , I was going to damn well own it.

"Take care of her," I whispered, squeezing her arm as her eyes went wide. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to form coherent words. But my clock was at zero. I walked away.

"Sookie is under my claim," Bill murmured when we were far enough away from the others. His eyes flicked up to meet Eric's. I lowered mine to taken in the gravel. "I will take her."

There was a long pause. "Very well."

Fingers tugged at my hair, a final reminder before there was nothing but air where they had been. Bill's sad eyes met mine and for a moment, I just stared up at him. There was something about him that made me like him in an odd way. Maybe it was the fact that he was empathetic. He felt sorry for me and in this moment, we were in the same boat.

"Shall we?" he whispered, gesturing to his car which was only a bit away. Mutely, I nodded. What else were we going to do?

* * *

 _Woo. Bit of a cliffhanger, huh? Review and follow/ favorite if you want to see more! (A bit of blackmail, I know. But a girl's gotta make a livin'.) **Next chapter:** Tribunal fun and Runa finds out what a Mara is._

 _ **Ykkarr mara:** You're mara._


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Oh my god, guys. Wowee wow. I love you and am so happy to see you reviewing! I squealed when I came on here and realized how many comments I got. Love it, love it, love it~ Anyway, I'm publishin' this baby a bit late and I really want to go nappy nappy so I'm unfortunately skipping reviews this chapter. Please don't stop though. I will be answering them if you leave me a little heads up saying that you would like me to - that you like my quick fire wit and brilliant sense of humor. Kidding. Or am I? Yep. That's how you know it's past my bedtime. ON TO THE CHAPTER!_

* * *

 _Chapter Seven: I Don't Wanna Know_

I was a weird kid. I'd long since gotten to the age where it wasn't painful to admit that. In all honesty, growing up with Sookie eased some of that burden though. Not only did we cling to each other in a fragile kind of understanding but in other ways (more selfish ways) I was different from her. My abilities came when most were unaware. I captured dreams and she captured thoughts. Unlike her, I didn't parrot back everything anybody in my radius was feeling. I was silent. And like some children who grew up quiet, I learned to build up walls way before any of my classmates or siblings ever knew how to.

And not just in the "normal" sense.

"Stop it," I hissed at Sookie, grabbing her hand under the long tables of the school elementary painting room and squeezing. She was doing it again, trying to worm into my head. Every time, I felt it like someone was pulling on my hair. And back then, I couldn't kick her out. She could pluck out everything I was thinking like she was getting dandelions to wish on in our backyard.

My sister winced, her pigtails bobbing slightly as she tried not to cry out at how hard I was squeezing her hand. Back when we were little, I had wanted to hurt her. When we were in high school I realized that these instincts weren't normal. I realized that pain wasn't the only way to get someone to listen. It was odd how much it seemed to be my only option back. Hurt someone and they would stop.

"I can't help it," Sookie whispered back, tears gathering against her pale, snow white lashes. Disgruntled, I released her fingers, turning back to the paintings spread across our table. We were the weird siblings. Jason could away with it but Sookie and I were on our own. "They think what you're drawing is weird, Runa. You should stop."

My eyes flicked around to take in the hurried way that all the kids sitting at the tables around us turned back to their coloring pads and crayons. Our teachers brows were knit together as she stared across the room at us. I was sure that they were a striking pair: one with hair nearly as black as molten lava and skin tanned from years in the sun, the other with snowy strands and alabaster complexion to match. A white tiger next to a black panther.

"They always stare," I murmured back, turning my eyes back down to the paper beneath my chubby fingers.

Sookie gnawed at her lower lip, her lashes fluttering as she glanced around the room quickly and then down at the jagged lines on my paper. A girl sat in front of a large oak, it's roots crawling to scar the ground around her as the tall grass waved in the breeze. I shut my eyes, remembering the chill air and the scent of wild berries in the air, crushed and tart. Little red seeds like mistletoe berries clustered in the gnarled branches of the tree. It was so big, I remembered, my tongue going dry as the fresh, earthy taste of pine burst across it. I could have crawled in between those roots right under the very trunk of the tree. I had wanted to.

I shook myself, picking up another pencil and scribbling down a series of twitchy lines.

I was a weird kid. Not the normal kind of weird where I fed collared greens to the cat until she threw up. I had dreams. Not the ordinary ones that were barely lucid and out of my control. I could control myself. In the dreams, I had a will and sometimes I did do things. I ran in the long grasses all the way to the forest's edge, the trees circling around that one, strange tree, making all the others look like saplings in comparison. And sometimes I just sat there, the cool winds from the mountains in the distance rolling over me and sweeping my hair across my face.

It was my tree. I possessed it and it possessed me in the same, unsettlingly certain way.

Sometimes there would be others. They all looked the same. Or more correctly, they all had the _same_ _look_ in their cold, pale eyes. Women - _maidens_ , that was the only word for them. Maidens with long, tangled hair and eyes as chill as mine, the edges so cold that they seemed milky. They would come into my meadow and smile, their long hair sweeping across tawny, slick skin, their waists small, their bodies lean from their narrowed noses to their lithe toes. They were beautiful, their breasts high and their lips full with lashes dense and fluttering like a grove of butterflies ready to fly on the next summer breeze.

So perfect that they should have been disconcerting. But their was something oddly familiar about them. So familiar that it gave me a headache. Slowly, their lips would curl back, their hands tightening on the long strands of their horse's manes. But it was hard to tell. Thier hair was always so long, the thick coils sliding across their naked breasts and arms until the horse's mane and the maiden's' hair tangled between their clenched fingers.

"Little girl," they would whisper, coming nearer and nearer but never seeming to be in any rush. Their voices were soft, lilting in the air with a slickness that colored the words of liars. Temptresses. I stared at them carefully, never moving from my position at the base of my tree. Never trust a girl with a pretty smile and oil words, I remembered my Gran saying.

"Little girl, you've wandered far away from where you should be."

Words choked in my throat and I moved closer to the roots until they scratched along my side, tearing at my thin dress. Avid, I stared at their approach. These horses weren't like the ones that I had seen on ranches and farms in Louisiana. They were wild, nearly frothing at the mouth as they shook their heads in agitation, stopping to paw at the ground until they had dug holes in my grassy meadow. The maidens smiled. It was always the same. No matter the woman, it never changed.

"What are you?" she would whisper, her eyes gleaming in the night. "Mare or man?"

"Girl," I choked out, shrinking farther from her as she threw her head back and gave a hearty laugh, her tangle of hair shivering like stars were falling from them, glittering in the night light.

" _Girl_. How cunning. Many names," she whispered, turning her gaze to the stars. In the moonlight,her teeth glinted dangerously. Sharp teeth like that of a sharks. Her eyes flicked to me briefly, her chin still tipped towards the sky. "But tell me, little girl do any of these titles ever feel right?"

I gulped down the clump of fear that gathered in my throat. Something in her words hit me, striking me to my very being.

" _Men_." The word was spat like a curse. "They give so many words to so many things that don't need them."

I blinked up at her, the light from the moon shivering along her skin.

"Man or mare, flower or tree, death or lust - they give names that they forget. Despise us, forget the gifts that we have given and repay us with curses." Her smile turned sickeningly sweet. "Yet they still let us into their beds. Fickle and foolish creatures. But their fears are _absolutely delicious_! Isn't that right, lovely, little Runa?"

A shock ran through me. She knew my name. They all knew my name. "Who are you? Why've you come to my tree?"

" _Possessive_ ," they would always sing, raising their brows at me. They seemed to almost hiss out their s', reminding me of a snake coiling. "We do not understand such curiosity. What a generous world you must live in to be able to question this and that at your will." Their eyes went considering. "We have no name. Do we need one? Why should we give ourselves airs when there is nothing more to us than our instincts - what we _want_ and what we _get_? We are not the Fae. We do not need crowns or courts. We are not the Elves or the Witches who must seek companionship. Why would we want such useless things?"

Her eyes turned to meet mine, her lips thinning as her horse gave a wild whiny, rearing back as it's eyes rolled madly. Something clicked in the milky depths of their eyes.

"But you are not of the old world." Her lips thinned even more and through the taut skin of her mouth, I could see the jagged indentations of her teeth. "The first to accept us into their beds named us _maras_." Her teeth flashed in an ugly smile. "We killed three of their kings."

I shivered, swaying in the wind like a blade of grass. The mare circled me.

"Vikings," she hissed out, her long neck arching toward me. "We concurred them before they built their first boats and burned cities beneath their blades and torches. We were their goddesses. They worshiped our savagery. They prayed to our darkness and bathed in our promises. We gave them madness and kissed their enemies with nightmares."

She gave a derisive smile. "But everything must come to an end. We learned from them. We went with them, fought beside them. And sometimes we stayed. Most did not. We took their wooden horses and rode them across the seas to Asia and America where they gave us a deluge of ridiculous names - useless and ignorant. But one thing remained the same."

Her eyes stared through me, piercing me to my very bones.

"Your sisters only demand one thing in return for all that has been given to you through the blood of your mother and her sisters before her: never submit to the follies of men and other creatures." Her words snapped like wind across the sea, slicing through water and shaking the waves to rise. The mare calmed, both of them turning to stare at my shivering, small figure. "Tame a mare and you break it. Then and only then will we meet again, little girl."

The last night that I dreamt of them the whole of Bon Temp was seized in the thralls of feverish dreams. Seven people died from heart attacks.

* * *

"YOU THINK I'M A FUCKING GOBLIN?!" I would have thrown the phone which was still lit with the Wikipedia page that had popped up at Eric's head if it would not have meant that I would have needed to go and buy a new one. Slamming Bill's door shut, I stabbed a finger into the big vampire's chest, ignoring the raised brows and whistle from Pam. On the screen, it showed a little picture of a troll sitting on a girl's chest who looked like she was about to rip her see-through nightie off and dowse the creature in fire.

"It is a car not a rickshaw, for god's sake," I heard Bill grit out but I waved him off, snarling up at the man in front of me.

The blonde vampire took it in strides, his eyes shuttered in practiced consideration. Slowly, he plucked the phone from my fingers and scrolled over the page that I had pulled up. Sighing, his brows furrowed and raised in unimpressed disgust before he was handing it back to me.

"My people only had one word for you," Eric said, his voice low and gravely as he stared down at me with those blue, blue eyes. I was getting sucked into them. My fingers dug into the phone until a prickle of pain buzzed along my spine. " _Mara_. But I suppose others possessed your kind as well. Demon, goblin, temptress, _cauchemar_ , _merrie, zmora,_ incubus." His teeth flashed as my face went red at the last one, his eyes darkening as he leaned closer to me. "But we were the first."

My whole body shook down to my very bones. The first. My eyes went watery as I stared up at him, those two words roaring through my veins. I felt like a cello being tuned, the strings of my tendons vibrating through as the sickening smell of crushed berries and mountain air stung my nose. My back hit the car door, my fingers clutching desperately at the door for something to hold onto as my whole world shook. The dreams that I had kept locked up inside me suddenly being wrenched from the depths of my mind so violently that I felt like throwing up.

"Viking." The word torn from what felt like the depth of my heart, suddenly grabbing onto every detail of Eric's face. Sharp, narrow nose, cruel smile, broad shoulders, blonde, blue eyed like the arctic seas - not a spartan. Not even close to those land-limited, lawless bastards. A low hiss tore from me, my teeth flashing in a sneer as I crouched, my vision narrowing in. " _Viking_."

Something deep and dark was running through me, a carnal kind of hatred tearing my muscles into ribbons. Pam's teeth clicked down, her eyes going deadly. My fingers tingled.

"Back off, little girl," the blonde hissed, her blue eyes flashing as I saw Chow move to stand to her right. It wasn't like he would be especially willing to fight me but he was inclined to fight for his new bank account.

I couldn't control myself. Savage violence choking me. My fingers felt like I had stuck them in a live circuit breaker. I glanced down, shivering at the purple threads that spiked along my hands like pulsing veins, a sick kind of darkness that was inky and runny swirling through it.

"Runa," Bill was beside me, his eyes flashing in warning although he wasn't coming any closer than a good five feet. I knew that I should stop. _I needed to -_ "Control yourself."

Another low hiss slithered from my lips, forcing itself into the air like a coil of snakes as I turned back to Eric. He was the problem. He was what I needed to neutralize. Amusement, curled the vampire's lips, his shoulders rolling. He wasn't scared. My lips curled from my teeth even more, the blackness around my fingers pulsing.

" _You have no right to call upon our services_." The words weren't mine, the voice low and lilting. Beside him, Pam and Chow stiffened, their eyes going a bit unfocused. Bill drew in a sharp breath. Eric didn't even move, his lips curling even more as his fangs clicked into place. Anger clouded my vision. " _Vampire. Viking! Who do you think you are? Before the first man walked, we were the shadows in their dreams. We were the sisters who seduced their wishes into needs. Now you come before us-_ "

"You're boring me," he said, glancing around in disinterest. His eyes caught on Pam for a moment and I saw the first sliver of irritation flick through him. "But you do have an unsettling effect on my companions. I would advise you to stop. _Now_."

" _YOU DARE-?!_ "

I was up against the car hood in a second, my skull banging across the steel as I hand curled around my throat, keeping me pinned there. A thick, hard body was pressed to every inch of mine, Eric's hips wedged between my thighs as he loomed over me. Desperately, I grappled with him, my fingers curling uselessly in the material of his shirt. Shock ran through me as the pulsing subsided into stillness and then dimmed. Fear. I blinked, swallowing convulsively. He should have been lost in delirium by now.

"Yes. I dare," he snarled like a rabid dog and I gritted my teeth as his lips curled away from his teeth, the light of the moon flashing off of the deadly tips of his fangs. The blue of his eyes rolled, stormy and dangerous. Awareness shivered through me at the hard roll of his muscles on mine, slicing through the anger.

" _You have no rights-_ "

"I have _all_ of them," he hissed and suddenly his eyes were wandering to the curve of my lips, his face dropping so close that I thought he might kiss me. My heart shook in my chest, a low ache starting inside of me. Shakily, I drew in a quick breath as I felt one of his hands slide along my shin. I shivered, my head fuzzing as he kept going up, up, up my leg until his hands were cupping the crook of my knee. "Your sisterhood has forgotten or tried to _rewrite_ the way of things. Vampires were raised first and your people - well, they were not even in the game. Cattle and slaves for _my_ people."

"No." My voice was back, the word guttural as Eric smirked, his eyes lighting up. Softly, his hand moved to my jaw, his thumb turning me so that I could only look at him. A shiver ran through me as I felt his hips grind even more into mine, a considerable bulge pressing through his jeans to my aching folds. Shit. I didn't even know that I was aroused.

"Either way it is irrelevant," he whispered, his breath blowing warm and wet on my ear as his fingers traced my inner thigh, playing along the frayed edges of my shorts and very close to some very compromising, very wet areas. I gulped, watching as his smile widened and he took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring. "I'll tell you what you're going to do for me tonight, pet. You're going to be a good girl and you're going to-"

"Beat the shit out of your undead ass when I get the chance, you-" I snarled out, trying desperately to wiggle free from him but only receiving more of his weight as he leveled into me.

He chuckled, the sound vibrating through him to me.

"Good to see you back." His head tipped to the side and I tried not to whimper when I felt his nose nudge into mine, his fingers squeezing my thigh in warning. "There are two very important people in that Tribunal and you, my pet are going to get their fears for me."

"Why not get my sister for this, you fucking-?" I spat.

"Because I wanted you," he said and I gritted back a retort as he leveled me a stare. His smile went lazy, his fingers playing down to my knee and then back up playfully. "And because Bill here tells me that your sister can't extract the same information - if any - from our kind."

My head snapped to the side, my eyes narrowing into deadly slits as I stared at the vampire. Groggily, Bill shook his head, his eyes fluttering in rapid bats.

"What the fuck was that?" Pam slurred and I saw her stumble into Chow as if both of them were waking from a dream.

A gentle squeeze from Eric's fingers around my throat brought my attention back to him. "You'll behave for me won't you, pet?"

My lips curled angrily away from my teeth, my fingers clenching even more in the material of his shirt. "How do you know so much about me? My kind?"

His head tipped to the side in consideration before he gave me a sly smile. "I once fucked one of your kind. When I was still human." Eric's eyes darkened as I drew in a sharp breath. "She was very vocal. About many things."

I growled. "My family's indebt to you, Mr. Northman. Whose fears do you want?"

"Good girl," he praised, his teeth nipping at my nose sharply as he rolled his hips into mine for the briefest moment, creating a deliciously slow friction. Damn him. "I will show you when we arrive at the Tribunal."

"Ah, isn't it a beautiful world?" Pam drawled as I straightened, seething as Eric moved away from me. Her eyes ran over me knowingly. Fuck her. Fuck all of these fuckers. I stormed, stomping away from all four of the vamps. I wanted to go home. I wanted to have Sookie. She would have made this a bit more bearable.

"Runa-" I slapped the hand from my arm, whirling on the civil war vampire to poke a finger into his chest.

"Why do you have to be such a little dipshit?" I hissed, shoving him. I glared venomously up at him. "If I ever hear you giving away my sister's secrets like bargaining tools again, I'll open your coffin and give you to the sun myself. Do you hear me?"

"Silver would help with that process," Pam offered, her eyes running over Bill's dejected form before giving him a fake smile.

"Eric is my Sheriff-" Bill whispered, his eyes flicking from their place on the ground.

I sneered. "Next time why don't you just let him put a sticker on your ass and buy you heels and a nice dress too? That way it'll be like an open warning that you're on call for the night."

Eric snorted. Pam let out a giggle of her own, her eyes lighting up. "Oh, how I do enjoy your new human."

"A bit mouthy," the big Asian vamp observed and I shot him a sneer.

Bill's eyes flashed. Oh, had I got him angry? My hackles raised, my teeth sharpening and aching in their gums. I wanted blood. My fingers tingled, going black and purple again as his fangs clicked down. I may not have been able to make the big brute of a man to standing just behind him pee himself in terror but I had done this before. A single touch would send anyone - undead or breathing - into a hallucination so vivid that they could easily go mad. Best case: scarred for life. Worst case: dead. It was maddening to think that Eric Northman was the one who could get away from me.

" _Tempt me, Compton_ ," I hissed out, my hands crackling. " _Breyta eda andask_."

I resisted the urge to flinch at the new language. My eyes flicked to Eric who was smirking, his head tipped back. A queasy kind of horror tipped through me. His language. I knew his language. I felt like someone had just hit play on some hidden button in the back of my skull. How many other things had changed?

"It was wrong of me," Bill whispered suddenly and my attention refocused on him. I would think about it later. Later when I could comprehend all the things that were changing so quickly. "I should not have done it. Not to Sookie."

Disgruntled, I grunted, turning to stomp away once more as my hands fluttered to a halt.

"Nice place you have here," I muttered dryly. I had thought since all the vamps I had met so far seemed to be born with a silver spoon up their asses, this Tribunal thing would be held in some rich, to do hotel. Or maybe an old plantation home. Hell, maybe they would even be able to find a castle in Louisiana. I was terribly wrong.

Eric stopped beside me as I stared up at the vans and wrecked vehicles that made up the cluttered junk yard. Cluttered in dust and dirt, the place had clearly been abandoned long ago, chains and old rigs left sitting in the heat to rust. It was nearly two in the morning by now and up ahead I could hear the quiet murmur of a mass of people. _Vampires_. It was an old place in the middle of the swamps, just east of the forests.

"I'm going to get my fucking shoes dirty," Pam griped, staring down at the my expensive heels. Her eyes flicked venomously to Eric as he turned a cool gaze to the heels.

"You could have stayed at home," he rumbled and I looked around, oddly at ease as one of his hands slipped to the small of my back. Piled high all around us, the junk nearly reached the skies. Like a big, ugly metal forest with muddy gravel dirt aisles zig zagging all over the place.

"Fuck you, you know that I couldn't have," the blonde sneered.

"A willing risk for my diligent progeny," Eric mused, flashing her a smile before nudging me to a slow walk.

"Cheap skate," I heard her snipe from beside me.

I didn't really pay attention to the turns that we took. We were in a jungle, filled with so many paths that I would never be able to get out. Besides, the only reason I would need to know is if I was running. And the only way I would be able to escape a horde of angry, vampires was - Well, even the thought was laughable. There was no way that I would be able to do that. My slick words would only get a minor number of vampires to be disoriented for a short bit of time and I only had two hands. They would tear me to shreds in a minute.

Soon the gravel narrowed out, Pam's whispered curses growing less and less frequent as she hurried along, still looking as elegant as ever even with the uneven gravel.

"Mouth shut, eyes down," Eric whispered to me suddenly, his hand tightening on my back. His eyes flicked to meet mine. "Do you understand, Runa?"

This was important. No matter how much I despised the thought of being at his mercy, I knew that he was going to be the only one on my side. My eyes flicked to Bill who gave me a worried stare before turning away. The only one able to protect me.

Instead of answering, I pressed my lips tightly together and turned my eyes to the ground, watching the stones pass below me. A low rumble of approval sounded beside me and I shivered at the roll of irritating pleasure that ran through me at the noise. A big hand spanned my hip, pulling me into Eric's side and I suddenly realized my role - what I would be to every other vampire here. Arm candy. Eric's quick fuck. I bit down on my tongue at the thought, quelling my response.

A low murmur shivered through the air as the ground evened into cement completely and I felt the press of a million eyes on us. I kept my eyes down, only glancing up once to get a quick look at the crowd of vampires - so many. More than I had ever seen in one location. The junkyard had opened up into an even bigger area - an old parking lot for cars that were no longer useful.

It looked like they were at a fucking music concert, some sitting on lawn chairs that they had clearly brought from home. Others were splattered across the area, standing high on cars. Right behind the main sitting area was a row of crates that seemed to be stacked together to make up little holding pens. Some had bars and shivering vampires behind them. Others held vamp clearly here to be entertained. It all circled around one car with an open bed on the back, a single chair with a pale, willowy man sitting in it, looking particularly bored as a vampire pleaded at his feet. A sinister cane was held loosely. He looked like some skeletal, comic book villian. Skeletor without the buff or a Victor Zsasz.

My eyes dropped quickly, turning to the feet passing me by as we made our way forward through the crowd to stand near the front, Bill hovering a bit away.

"I do not care," the man's voice cracked through the night, silencing the woman at his feet. His milky eyes flicked toward a vampire with short coppery hair in a leather jacket with gloves. "Luisa, is it something about my face? Something that makes these mutts think that I honestly appreciate the emotions - useless things that should have been left behind with their mortality - think that I would care about… What is the human emotion? The one that most of them say?"

"Love?" Luisa threw out helpfully, her fangs flashing as she smiled down at the quivering vampire.

The man sniffed. "That would be the one. Bind her in silver and throw her in the ground. When she's able to claw her way out, her punishment will be through-"

"PLEASE, MAGISTER! NO!" The vampire screamed and I flinched as the smell of fear permeated the air. This place was ripe with it. "NO-"

"Next!" the Magister snapped as two hulking vampires carted the screaming girl away and along one - male this time - was brought forward to kneel at his feet, silver already burrowing into his steaming flesh as he fell before the pale vampire.

My breath sawed between my teeth as I resisted the urge to jerk away from Eric, feeling a cool hand slip beneath the hem of my black beater to press against the skin of my hip directly. My eyes snapped to his, my jaw setting as he gave me an amused smirk and then tipped his head towards the Magister and Luisa. I blinked, the anger washing away as my mind sharpened. It was them. He wanted _their_ nightmares. My lips thinned.

Vampires were a bit more complicated than humans. Sometimes if the instinct was ripe enough, I could pluck nightmares from the undead like peas from a jar. But that seemed to fade with age and these two seemed very old. Or at least… the Magister did. My eyes focused on the girl, inhaling sharply.

"Idiot," the Magister seethed, still somehow looking bored. I stiffened. Blood was gushing from the convicted vampire's mouth as he choked. They had ripped out one of his fangs. Against my side, Eric let out a low purr, his fangs makings a soft noise as they clicked into place. I glanced around, shrinking into Eric's side as I saw that all of their fangs were out. And that most of them were glancing at me like I was a steak and they hadn't eaten in weeks.

A squeak forced it's way up my throat as Eric's hand tightened on my hips, dragging me to stand in front of him so that he could nuzzle his hand under the other side of my tank. His hips pressed into my ass and against my back I could feel the strong roll of his chest. Damn. The viking bastard better have been thanking his stars that we were in a tribunal or I would have went off on him like a goddamn fucking banshee.

"You fed on a human that belonged to another," the Magister continued on slowly and I tried to focus in on the girl once more even as a certain vampire's thumbs started to move in circles along my skin.

The girl - Luisa - she was actually only as old as Bill, give or take ten to twenty years. I closed my eyes sucking in a breath as I dug a little further. Slaves - I could see them running, barefoot, wanting to scream but sealing their mouths tightly against the reaction as lights flickered like fireflies in the trees behind them. Luisa Prescott - part of the Underground Railroads. I could see her there - whispering to them and running ahead into the night to a small, farm house. There was a cellar door beneath the hay in the pig's pen.

I shivered, not even realizing that I had grasped Eric's wrist until I opened my eyes. She had ran a safe house when she was mortal. Unfortunately, she had brought a vampire there. Luisa had offered him food and water but - I stared at the girl, suddenly feeling sad. Back then she had been afraid of mortal men with whips and knives. She had seen public tortures for those who had harbored slaves.

Now - ironically - Luisa was scared of the thing that she had fought to bring about in her mortal life. She was scared of freedom and change. She was scared of what would happen when order could no longer be restored to her vampire hierarchy. I sniffed, glancing away as the crowd roared for Luisa to pull out the vampire's other tooth. But she also feared confinement. She feared the underground bunkers that she herself had created in 1800's. The vampire that had killed her left her out to bleed in a dirt grave. Funny in a very sad sort of way.

"This trial is concluded," the Magister was saying, flipping through a phone in his hand as if he were marking it off his to-do list. "Moving on~"

A short tug on my hair brought my attention to Eric and I shivered as I caught sight of his fangs, pressing against his top lip. A brow quirked and I tapped once against his wrist, tipping my head to Luisa as if I was leaning back to stare up as him. Smirking, he leaned down to give my ear a gentle nip. Damn. This man knew how to push all my buttons.

"Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area 5," the Magister called and Eric's head snapped up in attention, softly, moving me away from him.

"Magister," Eric said, bowing his head slightly but not taking his eyes from the Magister. I inhaled as the milky eyes of the man in the chair ran over me and then flicked away, his lips tipping down cynically. Obviously, he thought I wasn't a threat. Or even worth his time.

I was starting to think the exact _opposite_.

Eric was a viking born in the years before Christ himself was born - _anno Domini_ , motherfucker. Something in my mind seemed to open up an hour ago and now it was like a library filled with untapped references. I wasn't all knowing. I wasn't even close. But I _did_ know that Eric Northman was the oldest vampire here and he held more power than this Magister in his fake leather car seat.

If I was indebted to someone, at least it was him.

"Bring me your murderer," the Magister said, an odd twinkle in his eyes as he gave the command.

Eric glanced towards Bill as I focused down on the skeletal man in the chair, my eyes straying to a ring on his left hand. I could just make out a thin cross with a pin-like sword on it's right and some sort of plant growing on its left. My lips thinned. The Magister was at least 400 years older than Luisa. And much more volatile.

Sweat beaded across my forehead, slipping down my neck. Beside me, Pam snarled at a vampire that kept creeping closer and closer, his eyes hungry. I was the only fucking human here. Of course they would be drawn to me.

The Magister was so _un_ like Luisa that it was dizzying to have to switch gears so quickly. Incredibly dogmatic, he seemed to be more inclined to the natural order than even Luisa was with years of fear pounded away from her traumas as a human. The Magister laid down roots so quickly and with such fervor that it was almost laughable.

The ring - my eyes snapped to it once more just as the Magister laughed, his little, skeletal fingers clicking like game pieces on his armrest. I finally caught on the crown held afloat above the cross, foliage thick and elaborate circling it proudly.

 _The Spanish Inquisition_. The words sighed over my brain like a dam finally breaking to flow. A monk, Jorge Alonso - blah, blah, blah, incredibly long Spanish name - he had risen from being from the poor to being one of the most feared inquisitors that the church had ever seen. I flinched, holding back bile as images flashed through my head. He was a sadistic motherfucker - so sick that even his fellow monks had reprimanded his treatment. Fifteen minutes was what each inquisitor was given and Jorge had exceeded that many times.

My head snapped to the side at the sound of a car backing up, my mouth going dry. In front of me, Eric's head tipped to the side as he cast a glance back at me. I gulped. That look was tell me that I wasn't going to say a word. What was-

I gagged, nearly throwing up my dinner as the trunk opened and the stench of decaying flesh and blood hit me. God. How could someone still be conscious with this much fear bloating them?

"You have no nest," the Magister declared, his cane splayed over his crossed legs as he fiddled with it in agitation. These things that he was ticking off seemed to disturb him greatly. "Prefer to consort with humans."

His eyes flicked to me in disgust and I resisted the urge to sneer, my lips curling as I dropped my gaze, feeling Eric's hot stare drilling into the side of my head. _Yeah. Yeah, boss._

"Seems you have lost all sense of our priorities," the Magister murmured. I could still feel his eyes on me, deadly like the tip of a blade running along my flesh. Slowly, they moved away. "Bill Compton, you owe us a life."

The sound of the trunk opening pierced the air, followed by the scramble and sound of screams so hysterical that I couldn't keep my eyes on the ground anymore. I looked up, ignoring the hiss from Eric as horror spiked through me. A girl with red hair the color of carrots stumbled frantically around the circle, looking desperately for something familiar as she sobbed before Luisa threw her down in front of the Magister.

A small sound forced itself up my throat, my eyes burning as something ugly and desperate twisted inside me.

"Don't," Eric growled, one of his hands clasping my shoulder.

His words were distant. If it wasn't for the girl - sobbing and praying on the cement - I would have listened.

"Does your pet have something to add, Mr. Northman?" My eyes snapped up to meet his, my nails digging into the palms of my hands. The gutless worm. I hoped that every fear swimming around in his deluded, little brain would be fully recognized. I hoped Eric tied him in silvers and dragged his ass out to roast for a minute in the sun every hour.

"God, Marie and Joseph," the girl sobbed, turning her eyes to the sky. They had roughed her up before she had gotten here. Bruises marred her pale skin. "SAVE ME!"

The Magister was still staring at me, a brow quirked. Eric's hand tightened on my shoulder, his eyes ice bullets drilling into the side of my head. "No. She doesn't, Magister."

Jorge Alonso didn't even look at him, a smile quirking his lips. "Nothing?"

He was asking me if I wanted to save her. He was asking me if I wanted to take her place - this poor human who had only been out at a party without any alcohol wanting to finally get the attention of the boys who looked over her day after day after day. Tonight, she had thought that it would change. She wanted it to change. She had prayed for it the whole time she did up her hair. It was all gone now. It had fallen out from it's pretty, braided bun and she had fallen out with her dreams. The reality was bitter on my tongue.

Her name was Jessica Hamby and she was only 17.

"Please, miss." She was at my feet, big blue eyes staring wide and blurry as her hands shook, clasping at my legs. Tears tracked through the mud on her cheeks and I gritted against the oncoming wave of images that flood my overworked brain, my fingers curling through one of Eric's belt loops as I braced. "Pl-please - I didn't do - I didn't mean any harm - I just wanted -"

Sookie would have been better. Sookie could have helped her. She could have calmed her. She could have done so many things. So many things that I couldn't - wouldn't do. My finger shook.

"Nothing to save this little human girl?" The Magister questioned, his head cocking to the side as he gave an innocent simper.

My eyes narrowed, words biting across my throat. I knew why Eric hadn't torn Jorge a new one many years ago. Jorge Alonso had gotten into the butt kissing game far before Eric had. One Jorge Alonso was an irritation. A million was a nuclear bomb that would implode. And like spiders, people like him congregated around a dead body. If I offered myself - a _mare_ , if that was what I was to be called - there would be no guarantee that I would rise vampire. An oddity among oddities that would put my family at risk. I couldn't let that happen.

"Sheriff Northman has already given you my answer, Magister." My fingers combed through Jessica's tangle of hair, forcing it away from her temple as she let out a hysterical sob. I couldn't save her but I could take away her fear. My teeth sharpened, the edges scraping along my gums and inner lip to draw blood as I sucked in a breath. Beneath my fingers, Jessica subsided. I looked back to the Magister, pleased to see annoyance evident on his face. I gave him a thin smile. "But thank you for your kind offer."

Jorge's tongue clicked, his finger twitching as Luisa hauled the girl to Bill's feet. Stricken eyes met mine. I looked away.

"Meet your Maker," the Magister called.

Eric pressed into my side, his hand moving to cradle my hip once more as he drew me closer to him. At least she wasn't crying anymore. It was a dull fear, barely there. I didn't look up from the gravel, choking back useless tears as I heard Bill's whispered apologies.

And then Jessica's fear blasted through me like a nuclear bomb going off, all of it convulsing from her body into mine. I stuttered out a breath, each draw of air painfully quick as I turned fully, pressing my face into Eric's chest. God. It hurt. I gasped, clawing at the material of his shirt as his arms curled slowly around me. Did he know? Did he know what I had done? I held back a screamed, my heart pumping unevenly as her body fought for survival. Arteries went off like slots in a pinball machines.

I took it all, my teeth sinking into the top layer of my tongue.

Tears trickled from my eyes. All she had to do was lose one fifth of her blood supply. One fifth and her mind dimmed to that of a flickering light bulb. I went limp, the last bit of life shivering out of her as I released my hold on her fear and slipped into blissful darkness.

* * *

 _Oh goodie. So, I usually wait to publish chapters until I get a lot of reviews and a lot of follows/favorites. I see the traffic graph and it drives me crazy! I know you're out there! I see you! See? I sound like a crazy, bag lady. Anyway..._

 ** _Old Norse:_**

 _Breyta eda andask: Act and die._

 _ **Next Chapter:** Runa researches her kind; Sookie has sex with Bill; Puppy Jason buries the sweetest vampire that I've ever seen._


	8. Chapter 8

_Hi, guys! I'm ba-ack~ I wanted to thank all the people who stuck around and reviewed even though I was gone for a bit - and by a bit, I mean almost a year. It meant a lot since I was dealing with some issues. Reviews always mean a lot, in general and even more when an author comes off of a hiatus. Thank you all formally for all your love and support and I just can hope that you guys are gonna stick around as I continue._

 _Please enjoy and leave me a little review!_

* * *

 _Chapter 8: Waking Up_

I had been passed out in some clinically depressed psychopaths office for a couple of days. The only reason I knew that was because I had ruffled through the psychopaths desk… before finding a nice little calendar plastered to the wall with the days neatly marked off. The door was locked and I was pretty sure that it was chained from the outside. _Fuckers_.

There were no windows, no other entrances, and I was pretty sure that the ducts that I found in the ceiling were going to be booby trapped with some fucked up serial killer death traps. I had watched the jigsaw movies and I was not fucking with confined spaces.

"Son of a fucking whore!" I shrieked, slamming the heel of my foot into the desk repeatedly.

That was another thing - they had changed me into a sexy little black silk slip complete with some garter straps and some thigh highs that were cutting off the circulation in my legs.

"Undead _fucker_ ," I hissed tearing the shit away from my legs and hurling every scrap at the door. A pathetic attempt. I watched as they stalled out midair and floated uselessly to the ground.

I had a pretty good idea about who had kidnapped me and stuck me in their storage closet. At the moment, I was wondering if I would rather have been freaking out on whether Pinhead was about to bust out of one of the vents or have the vague half memories that were now starting to surface.

Roughly, I pressed a hand to my eyes, trying to push the bubbling memories from resurfacing back by sheer pressure. Maybe I should have been grateful that I was here. If I was with my sister, the thoughts that I was having would have probably been too enticing to resist taking a peep at. A pop of pain zipped through my skull as my nails dug into my eyelids. It was useless. I couldn't stop the flood of consciousness now that it was upon me.

I remembered being tired. Exhausted. Pure, bone melting exhaustion - that's what you get after you suck all the pain and lucidity out of a 17 year old girl. I had honestly been kind of impressed that I had remained conscious. But then again, maybe I would rather have been knocked out just so that I wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of having to look like even more of a weak, pathetic fuck doll for Eric fucking Northman.

"I'm surprised to see you handling a human so delicately, Sheriff," a blond female vamp had mused, her eyes doing very little to hide the nauseating jealousy that she was obviously feeling. Her fangs were still clicked down from the earlier display of bloodletting that seemed to be one of those fucked up rituals that vamps partook. The fact that they remained down told a whole 'nother story. Especially since her eyes remained fixed on me - poor, little human with the big bad vamp.

Eric's eyes caught mine as he glanced down, the muscled slopes of his arms tightening around me. I shrugged, blinking groggily up at him as I waited for the heaviness that was waiting at the edges of my vision. At the moment, I honestly couldn't care less about an old, undead hag who probably glamored every man she took to bed. Reflexively, my fingers reached out, curling into his shirt as I turned into him. For now, I would depend on him - big bad viking vamp that he was. I would depend on him to get me away from all the people that wanted to eat me because - well, it was his responsibility wasn't it. I definitely didn't trust _him_. But I did trust in the fact that he took his responsibilities seriously. And as of right now, I was one of them.

"You always did like your meals to be scared little rabbits, Meredith," he rumbled and I felt the sound in my fingertips as he hefted me a bit higher into his chest.

"They taste better when they're a little…" Her eyes leered down at me, a strange glint entering them as she stared down at me. " _Unsure_."

I snapped out, hissing lowly as one of her fingers ran a slow line down my arm, snarling as she jerked back in unexpected surprise. A single raised brow from Eric sent me falling back into his chest, the sudden outburst draining me further. He could handle the rest, I was sure. It was no benefit to him if vamps came snooping around his bar for a hint of the _unexpected_.

"I wouldn't advise you to touch things that aren't yours," he murmured, his eyes snapping as he gave her a dangerous smirk that sent her reeling back farther but strangely blushing at the same time. "Someone might think that you're trying to take what doesn't belong to you. They might get angry and anger is such a delicate emotion - who know what could happen?" His smile turned mockingly sweet as Meredith paled. "It's a good thing that we both know that sometimes your hands get away from you, isn't it, Meredith?"

I'm sure there was more than the scared, little flutter of, "N-no, Sheriff. I-" that came from the blond vampire but I was already drifting off.

The couch that I fell into was itchy and felt like a palate that refugees would sleep on in barren hostels. Not to mention that it was barf _green_ , making the OCD part of me shrivel up and die an agonizing death as I caught sight up the ratty red rolly chairs in front of the long oak desk at the back of the room. In fact that desk and the matching oak bookcase pressed up against the wall in back of it were the only nice, organized things in this room. The rest was all strange flyers and ugly, tacky metal storage units and mismatched furniture.

I didn't want to think about how pathetic I was anymore. I wanted to do something fun.

Glancing quickly back at the door, I slid onto the desk. I had made a bit of a mess looking through his desk but… The tip of my finger skimmed along the classy lamp sitting on the edge of his desk. It was made of colored glass. I gave it a nudge.

"Oops," I murmured noncommittally, staring down at the splintered shards of the now decimated lamp. Better not to step on that. I lifted my feet completely onto the desk crawling across it to grab onto the nearest metal storage unit. Maybe I gave it too much of a tug because it went crashing to the ground. "Oh _nnnnoooo_."

On the bookcase was a picture of a Viking boat.

"Beautiful," I murmured, reaching over to pluck it off the top to trace a finger over the striped sails. Spinning on the desk, I hurled it toward the door. This didn't float to the ground like the thigh highs. This splintered on the metal door with such force that the frame burst apart.

If Eric fucking Northman thought that he could steal me aware and lock me inside a room - dress me up like all the blow up dolls that he got off of Amazon - then he was in for another thing. I clawed at anything that I could get my hands into, tearing papers and frames off the walls, yanking out the drawers from the desk, getting on my hands and knees on the desk to push over the rolly chairs in front of it. I tore the books off his shelves, most of them about geography and the beauty of maps. Typical fucking Viking. He might as well get a coach bag and a dog to flounce around with since he was such a basic fucking blonde bitch.

Not that I would ever say that to his face.

I was more of a tear up his office and than plead innocence kind of gal.

I giggled as I took another book off the shelves and then stopped. It was about Norse lore - more encyclopedia than book, huge and nearly brand new. I wasn't sure if he had ever read these books, none of them seemed used in the slightest. I gingerly crawled from my perch on the desk to curl into the giant leather chair behind Eric's desk, flipping to the m section.

And then I settled in for the most fucked up read I'd ever had the pleasure of going through. I rarely read so maybe that was a bit of a short bar to hop over but _fuck_. If I was a _mare_ than I was one of the most deviant, disgusting creatures to ever crawl out from the depths of this green earth.

A brief summary would be that we rode around on horses and sometimes _trees_ at night. The way that people could tell? If the horses hair was tangled or the branches in a tree were wound together. (It was honestly kind of weird how much they emphasized our particular affinity for tangling hair.) The Polish even blamed a hair disease on us for this particular reason exactly which seemed a bit low.

We fed on fears, riding the backs and sitting on the chests of humans. It was said that we could slip through the thinnest cracks, slide into the folds of sheets and reach out from the darkness to suck the life away from any living creature.

It was... odd. Every other creature that I could think of seemed to be touched by the whispers of a _mare_. Poltergeists were old but… we were _older_. So old that the strange happenings in nightmares that always seemed to be blamed on ghosts was at first rubbed away to hint at _mares_ instead. Succubus seemed to just be a fancy term for lesser _mares_ that could barely suck the life out of an unconscious victim. Witch's took our forms, twisting into our skin for a moment and then beseeching us to kill their enemies with offers of blood and wine.

I shut the book hard, staring down at the antique cover that was so detailed that I thought it was sewn in silk. The words sat bitterly at the bottom of my brain, pressing heavily into my eyes. It… was a lot of information. My eyes wandered blurrily to the disaster zone that used to be Eric's office. I was too confused and...angry (I think I should have been angry) to be proud.

Experimentally, I flexed my fingers, watching as they crackled with purple light before dimming. There was no power behind it. My abilities were run by my emotions. In the long run I was pretty sure that that was going to get me killed if I wasn't more careful. My eyes drifted to the broken frame lying at the entrance to the room. Maybe trashing Eric's office hadn't been the best idea in my whole lay low scheme. I had never been that great at following common sense.

"I can smell your fucking human from across the goddamn bar!" My head snapped up at the voice, my back straightening as all of my attention focused down on that door.

"Like chocolate and vodka," a deep voice rumbled and my insides tightened, my feet uncurling from under me to tap lightly down to the wood floors. _Eric_.

 _Chocolate and vodka?_ I blushed.

"Fuck! It just got stronger." I flinched, my eyes watering as I kept them focused on the door. I didn't move. My lunges started to burn - I didn't breath. They could smell when I was blushing.

"If you come near this fucking room, I will pull your lunges out from your throat just so that I can find your air ducts and rip them out directly." There was a lilt to his voice that made me think that he was smiling. "Understand?" The door opened. He was smiling - smirking really. All he ever did was smirk. His eyes flicked coolly to the shredded papers and destroyed shelves before lazily turning back to me. "I've always heard that pets can be quite a mess to keep."

I scrambled to my feet, hurling the book of mythology at his head with a hiss. "WHO FUCKING CHANGED ME, YOU UNDEAD PERVERT?!"

He caught it, glancing at the cover before tossing it aside. His eyes lit with amusement as he glanced up from beneath his lashes. Damn him. Heat shivered through my stomach at that glance. "Reading up on some distant relatives?"

"Has sleeping fucking beauty finally woken from her slumber?" Pam slid in beside Eric before stilling, her eyes drifting around the room. My shoulders stiffened, feeling uncomfortable and hot beneath Eric's unwavering gaze. A slow smile slid into place as she drawled, "Love the new decor."

"Clean this up," he replied smoothely, never taking his eyes from me. I stayed where I was, back against the wall. At least here no one could sneak up on me. Not that they would need to.

"I was a whore not a fucking maid in my human life, if you'll recall," Pam spat, her eyes lighting to a blaze. "They may seem similar but I can assure you that I rarely bent over without getting paid first."

Eric's eyes rolled heavenward before finally meeting hers. "Then find someone else. Just get it done." He caught her arm before she left with a huffy turn. "And I do pay you."

"Oh, honey," she murmured with cold honey freezing along her words. "That's barely enough to cover my shoes."

I didn't dare laugh. The thought was funny but right when it bubbled up, it froze somewhere in my throat as Eric gave an appreciative snort and turned the icy depths of his gaze back on me.

We stared at each other. For how long, I had no clue. All I knew was that the first one who moved would be the deciding factor on what this meeting would be like - violent and angry or cold and distant. And in my little satin nightie I didn't feel up to the responsibility.

"The slip looks good on you," Eric said smoothly, his eyes slipping along my curves, landing the longest on my neck and breasts and then sweeping over my thighs so many times that I thought he was under the impression if he just kept looking, they might open. His fangs clicked down, his shoulders hunching in that primal way that he always had about him. I shivered.

"At least now I know that the only way you can see a girl in lingerie is to change them while they're unconscious," I snarled snidely, trying my best to glare instead of look like the horny mess that I was.

"Runa." Damn. The way he said my name was so sexy. His eyes crinkled as he gave me an almost sympathetic smirk. My breath hitched, stuttering as he suddenly appeared in front of me. Too close. I caught a whiff of meadow dew and earth as he leaned down, his hands coming up to grasp the bookcase behind me as he caged me in. My nipples peaked painfully, arousal shivering through me and melting my insides. "If I wanted to rip your clothes off and plunge my dick into that sweet little pussy, I would. Making you moan my name until you come is all I've been thinking about lately."

I blinked, gulping down a breath. I couldn't look away from his eyes - those sexy blue eyes staring at me now with a heat that was threatening to burn me up. Fuck. My panties were drenched. He took a long breath.

"Mm," he tumbled out, the words vibrating through his chest and straight into my nipples, causing a whimper to escape. Gritting my teeth, I resisted the urge to rub myself against him like a cat in heat. "You smell even better when you're all wet and ready for me." My breath caught as he leaned closer, tipping his head to the side as his eyes crinkled in a wicked smile. "Are you a screamer?"

I took a shaky breath, trying to regain some semblance of control. Runa Stackhouse did not stand speechless while a sexy undead viking gave her sass. Sexy, mind numbing, panty drenching sass. But here I was, panting, flushed and leaning into him like at any moment I was going to reach up and yank him to me. Was it a battle or lust? With Eric Northman was there a difference?

"Why have you kept me here?" My words were so soft that I knew that if he were human that I'd have to repeat myself.

His fangs flashed in a wolfish grin and he leaned closer, his voice rumbling over me. "I asked first."

"I dont give a f-"

"Manners."

I huffed, staring up at him. I rarely had to stare up at people. I was always as tall if not taller than any male in my vicinity. So I was a bit thrown off my game if I was being completely honest.

It was time to change up the game. Open aggression obviously wasn't a way to get anything from this man.

I leaned into him more, bringing a hand up slowly (I didn't want to become a vamps meal just because I touched the king) to slip beneath his leather jacket. His eyes tracked the movement, sudden caution stilling his features. _There we go_. I smiled a sweet, slow smile, letting my southern accent thicken and turn my voice into a low drawl.

"I am a screamer, sweetheart," I murmured. _Damn_. He was more ripped than I could have ever imagined. My hands skimmed up to his collarbone and slowly back down to his abs. Slowly, I went up on the tips of my toes, bringing my lips close to his ears. "Want me to scream for you?"

A snort was the only reply I got as he deftly moved away from me, leaving me to grope the air. Rage quickly took the place of slyness as he leaned against his desk.

"Submission really doesn't suit you, pet. It makes me almost wonder if you're trying to get something from me," he drawled, tipping his head to the side to give me an irritatingly puzzled stare. I sneered in return. He snorted again, his fangs clicking back into place.

"Can't blame a girl for trying, sweetheart," I said with enough sugar and false innocence that I could have made a cake out of thin air.

"Next time you try to top from the bottom, I'll have you bent over my desk, screaming."

I spluttered, blinking rapidly as he turned to pick up a stack of papers.

"I would rather eat a bowl of rattlesnakes than have sex with you, Mr. Northman," I hissed indignantly.

His fangs clicked down again as he flashed me a smirk over his shoulder. "I've been told that vampires are very similar to rattlesnakes, pet. Perhaps I could convert you over to eating me instead."

I was very close to tearing my hair out and then trying to create a noose with the strands. This man was insufferable. He had a quick remark to everything. I took a breath. And then another one. Slowly, I forced my hands to uncurl from their fists.

"Why am I being kept here?" I whisper, watching as Eric picked up a few more pages.

"You have something that I want," he murmured, turning serious all at once. I licked my lips. He turned to lean against his desk once more. His brows lifted expectantly.

"After this, you will release me from the contract that you made with my sister," I whispered, standing straighter. Maybe if I faked indifference I would feel less naked.

Eric's brows raised, his smirk turning up even more. "I don't remember saying that."

"I've done a great deal for you," I continued, just as lowly, trying not to let the desperation seep into my words. But the way that he was looking at me - like he knew that I was smarter than the words that were coming out of my mouth - it made me want to stop speaking. "Those vampires - they are important people. I - I-" I stopped, shaking my head as I stuttered.

"I don't think you realized the depths that you're in, pet," he suddenly murmured and there was something in his voice that made me stop and look at his with a bit too much. I could feel all the emotions - pure, unadulterated vulnerability - bubbling up and spilling into my eyes. He saw it. I knew that he did.

"I don't need your pity," I spat, shoulders going up as I shifted - suddenly realizing that I was literally backed into a corner.

"Don't use words that I don't understand." He smirked and I resisted the urge to throw another book at him. My eyes narrowed on him as I felt a sudden surge of tears. It was the angry kind of wave that overtook you at your most vulnerable moments. At that moment, I could only think of my grandmother. And my sister who had fallen apart in the most delicate way possible - caving in on herself until all you could see was the barren bones of the structure she had once been. And then this deal with the vampires - the final slap to the face. I felt suddenly trapped, a broken kind of enslavement that made my breath heavy and my limbs stiffen.

He didn't understand. I jerked back, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that I was close to tears. I gasped sharply, looking away.

"What more do I have to pay you for?" I whispered sharply, swallowing as I tried to regain some semblance of control. "My sister has offered our services but I was under the impression that gaining such valuable information would repay our debt in full."

Before he could say anymore, there was a light knock on the door and a dainty female entered with a bucket. Her eyes briefly flitted around the room before she gave a bow to Eric.

"Mademoiselle Pam zent me to clean ze mess?" Her words were heavily weighed down with a French accent. I rolled my eyes, choosing to stare pointedly at the bookcase as Eric gave a nod. She was a vampire so it was done within seconds, all the papers either stacked neatly into drawers or tacked back to the wall. All that work for nothing. I rolled my eyes.

Her arrival was advantageous though. By the time that she gave a final nod and left the room, I had regained my stability. My armor was back in place and I was willing to finally do battle. Eric's eyes tracked me as I moved to sit in one of the chairs across from his desk. I wouldn't let him use my family up and then dispose of us like dirty trash when the time came.

Dainty and deliberately slowly, I crossed my legs, not missing the way Eric's eyes darkened at the action and wandered to the extra inch or two of exposed skin as my slip slid farther up.

"You will release us from our deal, Mr. Northman," I murmured, forcing his eyes to snap back to mine. For a moment, I thought he might not have heard me.

"I will not waste anymore time, _mare_ ," he said suddenly, straightening to his full height. "Your brother has gotten himself involved in some… unhealthy habits." A flutter of panic ran through me and for a moment I stopped breathing, trapped as Eric held my gaze. "The only thing keeping him out of my custody is my involvement with your sister - well, perhaps I should simply reduce that down to you. Since you have clearly taken it upon yourself to deal with this on your own."

"My siblings are useless," I hissed, hackles raising as I thought desperately of anyway to minimize my sisters telepathic abilities. "I am the only one that you need to complete any mission."

" _Confident_ ," he mused, smirking. His gaze turned serious again. "Jason Stackhouse's crimes against my kind are grave. I have dealt with humans for far less than what he has sunk himself into."

I gulped, searching desperately for something to say. "If - if I corporate - if I do what you say then you'll - you'll let my brother… go?"

"I will ignore the crimes that he has committed," he agreed. His eyes turned deep, considering. "You do this for your family?"

 _Jason_ , my mind whispered. _What have you done?_

"Who else would I do it for?" I finally replied, trying for a smile and failing miserably. I suddenly felt tired - like something essential had been sucked out of me and all I had left was a bone-deep kind of panic. "Would you like to know what I found, Mr. Northman?"

His eyes narrowed at the sudden distance in my voice but he nodded, sitting down behind his desk.

"The female vampire was an Underground Railroad transporter. She was unlucky enough to pick up a stray vampire and was drained in her own bunker. Now she's terrified of confined spaces and…" I stopped, considering my next words. "Equality among vampires and humans is not what she seeks. If you want to manipulate her - she will always choose the argument that allows for vampires to be on the superior spectrum."

"You are far more of an asset than I had imagined," was the only reply that I got and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"I'm only halfway through, big boy," I said sarcastically, earning me a wolfish grin. "The magistor was...harder. He was an inquisitor in the 1400's, nearing the 1500s. Ironically, he can't handle any form of physical abuse. He will cave under any form of silver work. He also has a...pet… There is a human that he keeps in a bunker at one of his homes. She is his only secret."

"You don't know which home?" Eric inquired, his eyes sharp. I shook my head. It was exhausting enough to dig around inside the man deep enough to find the information that I had. He stayed quiet for a moment, brooding over some horrible plan or another. "You have been very helpful, pet."

"Are we done?" I sneered, crossing my arms under my breasts and then rolling my eyes as my Eric's smirk grew at the sight of my boobs lifting. "I have things I have to get back to."

"Your brother and sister?" The way he said it made it sound almost mocking. "Their debt will still be there no matter how long the time you are away."

I grimaced. "What exactly did my brother do?"

Eric's expression darkened. Outside of the bar I could hear the beginnings of a rowdy night at Fangtasia. "Your brother got himself involved in the V. I'm afraid he's quiet addicted at this point."

I paled, my mouth going cottony as I stared up at Eric. Not only was V highly addictive, but it was also _highly_ illegal. That wasn't even putting into perspective the fact that he had to get the stuff from somewhere.

"He came here a couple of nights ago and left with a known trafficker," Eric continued, his voice dipping into a controlled rumble.

My brain snapped into focus. "It wouldn't be-"

"A tiny, little hippie girl who too much body odor to be ignored," Eric supplied, looking slightly bored.

" _Bitch_ ," I spat, one Amy Burley's face flashing across my mind. No wonder the girl had kept my brothers attention for so long. She was supplying him. Not to mention how incredibly gullible he was by nature. It was the crazy ones that always knew the plan. I got up from my seat. "Are we done here? I have a skank's ass to go kick."

Eric's lips twitched. "I would say yes but-"

The door to Eric's office suddenly burst open, leaving a fuming Bill in its place followed by - I glanced down, swallowing hard. Jessica Hamby, recently turned from the state of her clothes.

"I can't take this anymore," he burst, his eyes not even catching sight of me until after he had stormed into the room. Jessica's attention was short lived, only to send a rather thorough glance to Eric that had my skin crawling and my mind snapping. _Not worth it, little vamp._ "R-Runa?"

"Cat got your tongue?" I questioned sweetly, settling a hip against the desk as Eric chuckled, making his way around the it to stand beside me. For good measure, I sent Bill a wink, getting a little too much pleasure out of the appalled look that froze his face.

"What are you-?" He didn't seem to be able to finish the sentence and by the way that he was eyeing my current attire, I got the jist of where his mind was going. And I didn't really appreciate it. "What are you doing here, Runa?"

I put on a pout, turning into Eric's side so that I could rub up against him like a cat. I nearly purred as his eyes darkened to a stormy blue, my breasts rubbing up against his arm as I sent a hand to wander up his torso.

"I've been a bad, bad girl, Bill," I smirked, trying my best to look entranced as I stared up at the big, bad viking who looked like he was more than enjoying how low my hand was going.

"Eric, did you glam-" I sent a stapler straight for his head, whirling to growl at him.

"No, you idiot!" I snarled, feeling like an animal that had had its tail pulled one too many times. "I've been holed up here for fucking days unconscious!"

"Well, how was I-" I sent a book end this time, sneering as I rounded the chairs to poke at his chest.

"I understand that you couldn't have done anything, Bill but I for one enjoy taking aggression out on someone who's manners get in the way of a retort." I huffed, whirling around to go and sit glumly beside Eric on the desk who looked like he was more than enjoying himself.

"Glorious, isn't she?" He grinned, leaning against the edge of the desk so close to me that I considered scooting over. But honestly, what was the point? I was already dressed in the most obnoxious nightie ever and I was pretty sure that all the close contact had already sent a clear message. That message being something along the line of: _I don't like you but damn you're too fine not to touch._

"If it wasn't for her sister, I would never go near her," Bill said dryly and I rolled my eyes. He tipped his head in my direction. "Apologies for any offense."

I gave him the finger.

"I assume this isn't a social visit," Eric said, cutting to the real issue as he eyed the dirty ginger girl that was currently curled around his door like a dog waiting to be let off a leash. His next words were dry. "She turned out rather well."

"Have you fed her?" For the most part, Jessica was doing a good job of not paying us any mind.

A sudden helpless desperation entered his eyes. "I tried to feed her Tru Blood but she wouldn't take it."

"Probably because it tasted like shit." Jessica jumped, as if surprised at the word and then giggled. " _Fucking_ shit." Obviously feeling naughty, she bit her lip with a grin and turned back to the door.

It was really hard to feel sorry for her when she was being like this. She looked liked she _enjoyed_ being a vampire. My brows furrowed. She had been so different at the tribunal.

"Your point?" Eric drawled, beginning to sound bored. Slowly, a long finger reached out to play along the edge of my nightie, causing me to jump.

"You stop that," I hissed, slapping at his hand and sending a glare his way.

"Make me?" He dared darkly and I was half tempted to take him up on the offer as he gave me a smirk.

"I need you to take her for a bit." The plead in Bill's voice must have drawn the viking's attention because he stopped playing with my slip and glanced the other vampire's way.

"She's your punishment not mine." Eric scoffed and for a moment his incredulous gaze met mine. I shrugged. I never really knew what Bill was going to pull. His mind was a lot more snakey than I had thought upon our first meeting. "What am I supposed to do with her?"

"Excuse me." Jessica glanced back from her position at the door. "I can hear you, Mr. Rude."

I gave a low whistle and she flinched, eyes widening as she touched a finger to her ears. Obviously the new senses were a bit overwhelming still. The way that she was talking to Eric - either she was incredibly brave or just plain stupid. Eric's brows lifted slightly, taking the insult with a lot less bite than I expected.

Jessica's shoulders slumped at she gave a huge sigh, leaning back into the door. "I wanna go to the bar. I wanna be one of those dancers." Bill's face tightened in irritation. Obviously he had heard this speech a variety of different times in different ways. "Ooooohhh, I'm hungry," she whined.

Bill looked to Eric, helpless. "She won't listen to me. It will take more time than I have to teach her obedience."

"I don't obey anybody," Jessica snapped. "Those days are over."

"You didn't get out much in your human life, didja?" I drawled, smirking as she sent me her best sneer. Eric smirked.

"Can't handle one little girl, Bill?" he mocked, chuckling as Bill slumped heavily into a seat in front of his desk. Roughly, he patted the dark-haired vampires shoulder. "Newborns can be like this. Man up, my friend. She's not even one night old."

The blond haired vampire straightened, the muscles in his shoulders rolling as he took off his leather jacket. And handed it to me. My nose wrinkled.

"What am I?" I demanded, glaring up at him. "Your coat check girl, now?"

"You looked cold." He raised a brow in a silent dare. I was actually a little bit cold. And his jacket looked pretty comfortable. I sniffed, turning my nose up as I slipped it on. It nearly engulfed me, running so big that the arms draped over my hands.

In the back of my mind, my gran gave a sharp reprimand. I shot him an icy stare. "Thank you."

"You must be the town's little darling," he drawled back playfully and I grimaced, snapping at his fingers as a thumb drifted roughly over my bottom lip.

"I have a real problem here," Bill sniped and Eric turned, settling in the chair beside him.

"You want to stay with your maker, right?" Eric inquired, drawing Jessica's attention once more.

"No," the redhead snapped. "He's a dick. Dick, dick, _dick_."

I tried not to smirk as Eric let out an appreciative chuckle.

That one sound seemed to draw Jessica's attention. I tried not to look too alert as she smiled. "You're cute. Can I sit on your lap?"

I let out a sharp laugh, the sound coming out a lot more harsh than I meant it to be. Jessica's eyes snapped to me and she let out a low hiss, her fangs clicking down. Oh _fuck_ that.

"Put your baby fangs away before I rip them out myself," I seethed, my fingers crackling beneath the leather of Eric's jacket. There was no way that I was letting a newly turned brat fuck around with me - especially when I had so many other things to deal with.

"Sit down and shut up." His voice boomed out so suddenly that I had to quil the instinct to jump, my eyes snapping to the blonde-haired vampire who was leaning forward in his chair.

Jessica jerked, swallowing heavily and then blinked, taking an unsteady step toward a chair.

"Close the door," Eric finished, almost offhanded as Jessica fumed but followed orders. His eyes stayed locked on her for a bit before he turned back to Bill. "You see, you have to be tough with them or they'll walk all over you."

I was sure about that. You have a human that matured up to a regular age where they were expected to make their own choices and then you thrust them into the body of a vampire who was only considered "old" once they got in the hundreds digits. There was bound to be some conflict.

"I am well aware of that but you can see how she is," Bill snapped, watching Jessica with a degree of loathing that I hadn't seen before. "And there are urgent matters to which I must attend."

Eric sighed. "Sookie Stackhouse?"

My head whipped around. "You haven't gone to see my sister yet?"

Bill had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. "I just barely emerged from the ground. There was no time…"

"My sister isn't that great at waiting, Bill," I warned, staring hard at the vampire. "Just remember that."

"Haven't you already done enough for her?" Eric burst in, looking slightly more bored than usual.

I flinched as the degree of violence went up a notch, Bill snarl as he glared at the viking. "If any harm were to come to her-"

Eric was on him so fact that my head spun, his movements like that of a snake before it struck.

"What?" His voice was low, belaying the overall threatening aura that dripped from his every pore. I stilled, freezing where I was as I kept a heavy gaze on the encounter.

Bill gulped. I reached out, my fingers curling tentatively around a pair of scissors. The black-haired vampire blinked, quickly backing down. "Without her helpful services."

My fingers tightened even more on the object, not daring to look away from the exchange.

"LET ME OUT!" Jessica suddenly shrieked. "I wanna do something bad."

For once, I was relieved to have the new vampire in the party.

"I would be in your debt." It was like the words were drawn from him, painfully. "I would return the favor."

"Oh yes," Eric murmured. "You will."

Even Bill looked surprise. I spluttered, blinking as Eric stoof from his chair. "You most definitely will."

"You're taking her?" I questioned, incredulously, blinking up at him as he came to stand in front of me once more.

"I like favors," he said with a smirk, his eyes twinkling as he stared down at me.

"I've noticed," I sniped, pressing back a bit as he leaned down, his broad arms caging me in on either side. My next words came out tighter than I wanted them to. "Am I to assume that I'm free to go, Mr. Northman?"

"Until I need you next," he clarified and I resisted the urge to lean up and take his lips between my teeth and bite it. It would be easy - and wouldn't he be surprised? I wonder what he would look like - it almost made me do it just to catch a sight of that expression on his face. I was already leaning forward, my breath catching as his breath drifted along my lips. His eyes had got low, heavy lidded as he watched me. I leaned forward even more, gasping as my breasts slid along his chest.

"I hope my services are never needed," I whispered, wanting so bad for him to lean that little bit closer. Instead he gave me a smirk.

"I have a feeling that I'll need your services more and more, Ms. Stackhouse." I jerked, breaking free of the spell that had been cast so quickly that I lost my breath. It was the last name - Stackhouse - that was what snapped me out of it. If it weren't me in this office than it would be my sister.

"That's a shame," I rushed out, ducking beneath his arm to make my way hurriedly to the door. "I'm afraid I'll be keeping your jacket for now, Mr. Northman. Sad to say that I don't have time to wait for my clothes back but I'll be sure to return it later."

Eric's eyes were calculating as he stared after me, his face solemn. "I will call you when I need your assistance again," he finally said. His eyes snapped suddenly to Jessica who looked to be trying to claw her way out of the room. "Jessica! Would you like to learn how to feed?"

Well, she seemed absolutely delighted by that. I scoffed wheeling around to tear open the door.

"Runa." I turned at the voice, staring into the worried eyes of Bill. Was he worried? What an odd vampire. "Would you like a... ride? I am going to Sookie as well."

"I appreciate the thought." I forced a smile. "But I would like a walk more."

It was a lie but as I saw Eric take Jessica's elbow in a firm grasp and her turn those big, blue eyes on him, I was more inclined to tear out of their than ever. I gave him a tight smile, whirling to Bill. _Fuck Eric Northman._

"On second thought, I would like to get out of here as fast as possible." I nodded to the exit. "It would be safer with you - shall we?"

There was a look in Bills eyes that I didn't want to read into too much. So instead I wrapped it all up tightly and gave him my best smile.

* * *

 _Please review! I want to kind of get a gauge if anyone still wants this story. I got a bit discouraged._


	9. Chapter 9

_I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who reviewed! I know how hard it is to keep faith in a story that's rarely updated. But I unfortunately have a husband that reminds me regularly that I need to write so... *sigh* I wish he wasn't so awesome sometimes._

 _Chapter Nine: Good Little Girls Follow the Rules_

"Little girl~" Light rain splattered my face, making me gasp as I struggled to wake from another world, another dream. A better dream - one that made me ache and feel alive - finally alive after years and years of… _existing_.

I gasped, reeling as a hot, calloused finger skimmed along my cheek, burning into my skin as it went down, down, down my neck and to my collarbone.

"Wake. Up." I didn't want to wake up. And whoever this brod was, she was being a real _bitch_. So I gritted down and gave her the mental middle fingers as I tried to focus on anything except for her finger that was burning through my collarbone. Dreams were kind of my thing. I had done this before - slipped seamlessly from one subconscious to the other. I could do this. I could get out of this.

I thought of that distant world, soft and warm instead of this cold place, just below the mountains. I thought of my sisters laughter, the way her eyes sparkled as Jason chased her around the lawn with a squirt gun. Of Lafayette and Tara when they were sitting on our porch in our wicker chairs as the fireflies came out, griping about some asshole that had hassled them that week. Then they were turning as Sookie stepped out of the screen door, holding iced tea followed by - my breath caught as my mind sighed over her white hair and soft smile. _Gran_.

"How sweet." The voice was back, jarring me. She didn't sound like she thought it was sweet. Her voice was made of brimstone and darkness. She sounded like she wanted to burn my world to the ground. She sounded like she could. "But isn't one of those people already gone?"

 _Gran_. I bit down on my tongue, so hard that a gush of blood filled my mouth which earned an amused giggle from the woman above me. Woman? Her voice… Women? A shiver crawled up my spine as I remembered a clearing, a tree so large that it seemed that it was clawing its way to the clouds that thundered above. But I hadn't dreamed of that place since I was small. There was no way-

"Oh there's always a way with us, darling." I swallowed a scream, seizing against the chill, dewy ground as another finger searing into my skin, burning and blistering the skin there. Tears leaked from my eyes without will as the pain caught in my throat. Hot, damp breath blew over my ear. "Even a child like you should know that."

 _Someplace_. I was losing the thread of that world - _my_ world. Why was I so scared? Why did this woman frighten me so much? I needed something to keep me grounded. I needed - Eric. He was dancing through my mind before I could stop myself, his smile taunting me. Wisps of blonde hair fell into his eyes, making the blue there seemed shaded and safely concealed.

"No!" I did scream this time, jerking away as all five fingers curled around my throat. Some part of my mind shut off, the back of my brain zinging through with so much pain that I thought I would black out. Tears blurred my vision as I crawled, breaking her hold with agonizing slowness. My hands clawed into the ground as I slid farther away, trying to focus in around me but only really seeing darkness and the shadow of a great oak as it crouched over me.

And the woman - she wasn't here anymore. Did I imagine it? I whimpered weakly as my fingers reached up to skim over the oozing blisters that was forming. Definitely real then.

"It's just a dream," I whispered, panic threatening to burst from me as my stomach knotted painfully. I curled around my knees, my eyes flicking around the clearing nervously. Was this what I had dreamed when I was younger? What kind of fucked up little psychopath was I?

"Not a dream." I jumped at the sudden voice - voices - shivering as a shadow swept across the edge of the clearing, drawing closer and closer with an otherworldly grace. Slowly, the dim light cast from the dozens of stars above revealed a tangle of dark hair and luminous, milky white eyes. But then there would be a swirl of blue or green that would outline her pupils. She was completely naked, her breasts full and enticing and her whole body slightly muscled. She was gorgeous, taking my breath away as she moved slowly toward me. But not in the otherworldly way that girls on my TV were. She looks destructive, gorgeous in the way that a goddess of war would be. "You've been very bad, Runa dear."

I shivered, curving towards the roots that bit out from the earth around me, like they could hide me. "How - how do you know who I am? Where am I?"

The woman sighed in irritation, stepping nimbly over a series of roots. "You were so much more bearable when you were younger." A slow smile spread across her face, giving me a rather startling glimpse of teeth that looked like little needles. I gasped, lurching as I ran my tongue along the sharp tips of my own canines. "But then again, it all comes around here doesn't it?"

She let out a little giggle that made me uncomfortable, suddenly feeling itchy in my own skin. "What-"

That's when I saw it. _Felt_ it.

This wasn't my body.

My hands were chubby, fingernails caked in dirt and grass. And - for the love of God - I was wearing an atrocious pair of overalls that had a iron-on butterfly at the pockets. It was what Gran would always dress me in and - I brought a tentative hand up to my hair, wincing at the cropped cut, shaved down to the scalp on the sides. What. The. Fuck?

"What the fuck did you do to me?" I gritted out, angry tear suddenly springing to my eyes as I glared up at her, moving to crouch instead of just sitting on my ass like some - Well, like some dumb kid. Which I was. Which was terrible. What if I had to go through pimples and gangly awkwardness and sexual discovery again. That was fucking terrifying.

"Oh, simmer down, child." Her eyes weren't on me anymore, turning instead to the great oak that loomed in the middle of the clearing. I squinted, an instant of vague recognition lightening my mind.

"My tree." Distantly, I heard the soft giggles of a little girl, a chill breeze rolling from the mountains in the distance. At the trunk, amid the snarl of roots that burst from the ground, twisting around each other as if fighting to strangle some of the life from their siblings, I thought I caught a glimpse of dark hair and pale skin as a small body tried to climb up into the dense branches above. "This isn't real. This can't be real."

"It's as real as the Fae," the woman smiled, stopping beside me. Her nose wrinkled into an almost conspiratorial expression. "Although you wouldn't know much about that, would you?"

"I don't like riddles." Somehow being in this place made me a bit more brave. I was in control here. This was _my_ dream. Even though I could still feel the dull burn from her fingers around my throat, the skin already puckering and blistering.

Slowly, she moved to sit on one of the more robust roots that jutted from the ground, looking elegant and feral as she ran a hand along it. Almost like she was worshipping it. Her eyes snapped a sharp yellow as she turned them to me. "Do you know anything of who you are? What you can do?"

My mouth thinned at the condescending tone that entered her voice, skirting around a root or two to gain some distance between us. I knew what I was. I knew that when I was nine I had killed seven people. I knew that on the playground when I was twelve, a boy tried to kiss me and I had gotten so scared, so terrified as he reached to feel the sticky sweat that coated my thighs, that my hands had reached out and that he had died. _Twelve_ , the adults around me would muse. _Twelve and he had died of a heart attack?_ The real fucked up part? I couldn't even remember his name. All I remembered was the look on his face as he clutched at his chest, me screaming, crying for someone - anyone to help. I knew what I had done - how dirty Runa Stackhouse was.

Instead, I chose to deflect. "You sound different."

A single brow rose and clumsily I tried to elaborate. "When I was little, there were women that used to come to this place. They would tell me things."

"Ah," She tipped her head back, turning to stare at the moon above. "They're all gone." I stopped moving, going still as her face grew distant, her eyes moving once more to the great tree. She looked… almost sad. All those women? All of them dead? How? They had been - seemed so powerful, the beasts that bore them frothing at the mouth and wild. Suddenly, this place, my clearing seemed cold - lonely.

"This isn't yours." The venom in her voice suddenly yanked my from my thoughts, her eyes back on me once more. "You speak - think - as if these things belong to you. How can they be yours when they are born from the earth - when they speak and move without you? What gives you the right to own this clearing? Do you take possession of the mountains and the rivers as well? Do you know of the lake that runs just a step past the tree's line? Have you caught the morning dew on your fingers when the sun drags her gown across the sky? How the berries in the tree's taste after a good rain?"

I didn't know what to say. As a child, I had taken this small clearing and placed ownership over it as any child did. My dreams were my own possession. Weren't they? A sudden spike of fear lanced through me.

A small smile curled my companions full lips. "No." It was a simple statement. One that made my throat tighten and my lungs constrict on every drag of breath. Her eyes turned wistful again as they reforcused back on the great oak. "Do you have a God? Have you given yourself over to the human world?"

But then her eyes were flicking back to me and she gave me a small smirk before turning back. "No," she answered for me. "You would be dead if you had bowed to that way of thinking. A God is a master." Her fingertips ran lightly along the bark beneath her. "We do not abide by such divine rules."

"Dead?" I gasped out, trying to draw in breath as a trickle of sweat rolled down my spine.

"The elders spoke to you of this." It wasn't a question just a dull sort of statement. "They inform every _mare_ of her duties - her role in this wretched world. Those were the women that you spoke to - although I loathe to use your disgusting, little word."

"They were women," I whispered, feeling light-headed as I stumbled into one of the roots.

" _Mare_ ," she hissed back, her shoulders raising and an unearthly purple light sparking in the depths of her eyes. "Don't use that human term for something so much more."

"I-" My eyes burned, a hand reaching out blindly to clutch at anything and grabbing along bark. "They were like me."

"Do you grow tired of always being the last to know? To feel something inside yourself and let it take you without know how or why?" Her words were sharp, cutting into me although I didn't know why. Maybe because I felt so small and lost beside her. "How long have you gone without learning a single thing about yourself? Working in some dinky restaurant, serving _humans_ while the world moves around you? While vampires and shifters and the Fae shuffle about around you - ignorant, insignificant, _you_?"

She sounded absolutely disgusted by me. At the moment, I felt kind of disgusted myself. My whole life I had been the smart one in the family. I had held my job at Merlotte's since it opened. I was one of Sam's first waitresses and I had rode out my senior and junior year in that bar, settling for regular paychecks rather than going to college. Who needed a degree when I could get an easy 900 a week from tips alone? I had Gran. I had Sookie and Jason - a family to come home to with a warm bed.

But I wasn't normal. I wasn't someone who could get away with a steady job and zero drama.

Enter Bill Compton.

"I'm getting out more," I gave a hollow laugh, trying to make the whole situation light. Didn't really work out well.

"With vampires." Was it possible for her to sound more disgusted?

"I'm not dreaming am I?" The only response I needed was the open eye roll before she focused back on the great oak.

There was a long pause, letting me take in the distant sound of birds and… My ears strained. Firewood crackling? I sniffed, catching the light smell of fresh flowers and mountain air.

"You come to her when she calls you." My eyes snapped back to the woman - mare across from me, taking in the slow rise of her breaths and the distant, almost drugged look that she had taken. "And she holds your image so that you can slide into the first - purest version of yourself."

"Who..?" My words trickled of as she tipped her head to the great oak.

"You've sat in her shadow for so long - I'm surprised that you haven't realized that a heart beats at her very core." Her fingers skimmed along the roots once more. "The elders told me of their creation - before…" Her brow crinkled, a sudden sadness washing over her face before she shook herself. "They said that when they opened their eyes it was not to the waiting arms of a mother. No. They opened their eyes in the form of maidens, cradled in the branches of this very tree. They could feel the whisper of her and they drew power from the many secrets that were given to them." Her eyes suddenly sought out mine. "She is our temple - the beginning and the end of our lives on this human plane. Do you understand?"

 _I understand that you're sort of fucking crazy._ "Yep."

A small smile curled her lips. "No. You don't." She seemed to consider something. "But you will."

Slowly, she uncurled herself from the root, straightening to her full height and I panicked slightly as the thought of her leaving suddenly kicked through my brain. "Wait!" I gulped, not fully knowing what to do with her attention once I had gotten it. "Do you know about what I can do? What's been happening to me? Can you-"

"Do you remember the last time you dreamed of us?" she cut me off. My brows furrowed, straining to remember. But I had been eight - nine? Fuck if I knew. Slowly, cautiously, I shook my head which seemed to spur a curl of glee from the mare. "Let me be clear with you, Runa darling. The Temple has become privy to the company that you're consorting with-"

"How-" I blinked in bewilderment, panic tightening my throat as I thought of all the nights that I had felt the press of eyes on my back.

"Hive-mentality," she said simply. "If we were to come together in one state, we could kill the entire populous. It's a rather nice ability to have but considering we're not stupid-" Her eyes moved pointedly to me and I suddenly had the odd image of all the Vampire rights movements on TV. Her smile grew as she continued. "- We've chosen to stay separated, imparting our rather sizable contribution to society on different continents, states, you get the idea."

"Others?" I spluttered, blinking rapidly. "There are others? Wait. You've met them? I could-"

"We have cocktail parties at the Taj Mahal on Mondays," she snapped, smirking viciously.

"I need to know." I sounded desperate. I hated myself for it.

"No," she said, sounding condescending patient. "The thing that you don't understand is that you don't. Until you find out what you can offer us then you don't need to know anything."

"Give you?"

"Mm," she nodded. "See we're very much like your little fanged crush in that aspect. The more you can do for us, the more we'll do for you."

"So you're just letting me prance back without knowing anything?" I hissed, suddenly growing angry. She had basically told me that I had done something wrong, that we were born from a fucking tree and that a lot of _mares_ had died.

The mare sighed, glancing back at the great oak before shaking her head. "I am not your keeper, Runa. I will not guide you as the Fae do their weak progencies. Mares are born of this earth and given only one rule - a rule that you are very close to breaking. Do you wish to know of your powers?" Her eyes sought mine, clearly seeing the desperate panic that was there as I nodded. "Then go out and find it. Stop playing by such mundane, _human_ rules. You are something holy - something that was risen to be worshipped. I will not lead you like a leashed animal."

So there it was. I gulped, feeling heavier than I ever had. Distantly, the wind howled through the trees. I would have to find out on my own. Not much different from how I had grown up.

"And there are far less secrets to give of the mares that remain on this earth," she said softly. "Scattered across the world, we can hear one another - sharp little voices chattering when they want to be heard. But we do not congregate. The only place that we will gather is here - when we are called."

"You said I was breaking a rule," I whispered, weakly trying not to feel defeated under so much information.

"A mare cannot be tame," she murmured, drawing a sharp nail over the side of my face. "You've be consorting with a Viking-"

"We haven't-"

"Oh fucking him would be a lot more cut and dry than the tangle that you've gotten yourself into." Her smile was cruel before settling into a blank mask as she turned away. "You will cut all ties with this rodent. You will break him."

That word - break. I flinched, thinking of such a man being brought to his knees. It was an impossible thought. It had no basis of truth behind it. Eric Northman was more than a vampire. He was more than a mere viking. He was a force of nature, so elemental that to rip him from my world was - I shook my head.

"If I don't?" The words quivered as they escaped my lips, drawing the woman to a stop. For a moment, I thought that she wouldn't answer. But then her shoulders rose in a dainty shrug.

"A bit of a preview then." Vaguely, her hand rose, flicking out before she was lost in the shadows of the trees, her voice echoing as I suddenly choked, feeling a gush of something hot and metallic clog in my throat. "The Temple has spoken. You have until the rise of the Witches."

I could barely hear her over the sudden rushing that was filling my ears. My whole body burned, my heart stutter as I tried to gulp down a thick layer of mucus and - I spit, gagging as I watched a mix of blood and spittle dribble onto the grass. What was happening to me? I gagged again, unable to keep my mouth closed as I let another gulp of blood run down my throat. I was-

"Runa!" I blinked, fighting to stand even as my knees gave out, sending my crashing to the grass.

I was dying. There was no way - But I could feel it, feel the chills shiver up my spine. Feel the sheen of sweat that was coating my sides and neck. Fighting, I rolled, choking as more blood clogged the back of my throat, making it near impossible to breath. I wanted to die. I wanted to die looking up at the stars. Tears blurred my vision as I thought of poor Sookie. She would never forgive me. I coughed, flinching as another wave of blood sloshed from my lips. Damn. This was awful.

"Runa!" But at least I wouldn't have to deal with the world any longer. My eyes fluttered shut, an endless blackness stretching out in front of me.

"It's a dream!"

I gasped, choking on air as I went jerking forward, my knees hitting the dashboard as my fingers clutched desperately at the car handle.

Where was I? The clearing? My brows crinkled, sudden anxiety crashing into me like a freight train. I had been in the clearing but now - My finger tightened on the door handle even more, feeling the solidness of it against my skin. This was real. Pale hands clutched at my bicep. This was real.

"I'm gonna throw up," I whispered, yanking on the door handle clumsily and rolling onto the gravel outside. Thank god we were already stopped. The content of my stomach went along the driveway, mixed with - "Oh my god." I gulped down an unsteady breath, shaking as I caught the glint of red among all the slosh. Shaking, I brought a hand up to my lips, blinking back tears as it came away red.

"Runa." Bill was there, crouching over me as he set a tentative hand at the base of my spine. "What happened? You fell asleep right when you got into the car and then all of a sudden right when we crossed the line back into Bon Temp you starting whimpering and screaming."

Glancing around, I suddenly realized that we were in my driveway, the lights blazing through the sheer curtains that shaded our windows. Damn. I felt weak from how much the sight of that old house made me feel.

"I -" I gulped down a breath, blinking rapidly as I took in the sting on my tongue. I had bit through the top layer of skin there. That was where the blood was coming for. Not that I was just going to fucking shake off that bitch from my dreams. No. Not a dream. There was no way in hell that was a dream. "I'm alright now. Bad dream."

When I looked up, Bill didn't look like he believed me but he still gave a nod, getting up slowly with me stiffly cradled in the crook of his arm. Maybe the guy wasn't so bad.

"What-" I stumbled, suddenly clutching onto thin air as Bill took off for the door, his brows furrowed.

"That's okay!" I called, slumping against the car for a moment before I stumbled my way up the driveway to my porch. "I got this. You go handle your business."

When I finally reached the door I realized why he had looked like a dog that had just been humped by a poodle. My sister. And Sam Merlotte. I winced. And a lot of screaming.

The way that Bill had Sam slammed up against the wall almost made me rethink the whole "puppy" Bill persona that I had created for them. His fangs bared as he gave a low his, sending Sam's head to smack up against our flower printed walls one more time before Sookie wrestled in between the two. Not exactly what I would have done but - hey! To each their own.

"HE HAD HIS HANDS ALL OVER YOU!" Bill roared and I resisted the urge to yelp in surprise as I glanced from my sister to Sam. No fucking way was this vanilla wafer getting in my sisters pants. He had been moony for her for so long that it had honestly gotten creepy.

"She's not your property!"

"Shut up, Sam. I can speak for myself." Her breath came ragged as she turned back to Bill. And I stood rooted to the spot - unsure of whether I should go get some popcorn or try to fend through the sea of testerone to try and get a scope of whose side I should be on. "You left me alone with no promise to come back and then you attack the man who's helping keep me safe?" She jerked forward like she was ready to haul off and punch Bill right in his Civil War chic nose. "HOW DARE YOU?"

"Sounds like more than keeping you safe," I whispered, deciding rather quickly whose side I was going to be on. And surprised to see that side being next to one Bill Compton. No one paid me any mind although Sam sent me an exasperated stare.

"He's helping keep you safe because I asked him to," Bill seethed, sending a vicious glare Sam's direction.

"GET OUT!" Sookie screamed and I blinked, a little lost as Bill took a weak step back.

Bill's voice was weak as he gave a shaky answer, staring down at my sister with a mixture of longing and anguish. "If you knew what I had done to return to you-"

"I rescind your invitation," she whispered harshly, following him as he took mechanical steps back, back, back, following the route that he had used to enter. It was almost hard to watch and some part of me twisted in anger.

"Sookie - don't." I wobbled from my position in the doorway as he reached me. "Please."

The only thing he got was the door slamming into place and then my sister flouncing off. I honestly didn't know what alternate dimension I had been driven into but there was no way in hell that this was my sister. Blinking, I turned a disbelieving stare to meet Bill's through the sheer blue material of our front door window. This wasn't right. She should have kicked his as to ther curb for making her look like a fool in front of the whole of Bon Temp. Hell - not telling her that he was safe and alive seemed like a good one too. But this? He had gone to that tribunal to pay for keeping her alive. For once, I was pretty fucking sure that Bill Compton wasn't the jackass in this situation.

I was staring at her.

"What the fuck was that?" I hadn't moved from my spot by the door, even as Bill stormed away, vanishing into the night. And Sam had apparently taken it upon himself to comfort my poor, fuming sister.

"Yeah," Sam declared and I resisted the urge to go and kick him in the balls, getting a mild bit of satisfaction as my sister shifted from his hold. "How can you even think about being with that douchebag? He's fucking unstable, Sookie."

"Shut the fuck up, Merlotte," I hissed, storming past him just as Sookie rounded to snarl up at the dirty blonde.

"Sam, my living room's wrecked. I've got a killer, a vampire and a shapeshifter on my plate. Right about now, I'm not thinking about being with anyone."

"Yep!" I declared, grabbing his arm and shoving him roughly towards the door. "That's about your time to leave, Sunshine boy!"

"I'm here to protect Sookie-" he started to protest, eyes wide as I gave him another push.

"Don't worry about it, big boy," I snarled, giving my best mean girls smile as I opened the door for him. "Now that big sissie is back the mean old boogie man won't set a goddamn foot near this fucking house. Coincidence that you won't either! Bye - bye!"

I slammed the door in his face and locked it before he could give me more than a light grumble before whirling around to face Sookie.

"Did you get a new fucking sister while I was away at band camp too?" I asked, putting on a false smile so bright that I actually had to blink a couple of times to keep it in place.

"Oh shove it up your ass, Runa," she huffed, storming over to sit heavily on the couch.

"Wow!" I whistled. "Things have changed since I went off to war." My eyes cut into her. "Or did you forget that Bill and I were sent to the tribunal at all?"

Guilt and fear passed over her face and suddenly I could see the sheen of tears build in her blue eyes. Ah damn. Sighing and shushing her, I went over to sit beside her, drawing her into a tight embrace.

"It's been so fucked up," she hiccuped, biting down on her bottom lip as she let out a desperate breath. "And you haven't been here. I thought - I thought -" A sharp shiver jolts through her. "I've been selfish. I don't know what I would've done if - if-"

"Sssshhhh," I murmur, stroking a hand through her hair. "I'm not. I'm here. That's all you need to think about. I'm here and I'm alive…" I took a breath, suddenly remembering the outburst that had gotten Sam kicked out. "And you need to tell me what has happened while I've been away."

Blinking away the remaining tears, she straightened, sniffing. From the look in her eyes, some serious shit had changed since I had been looked up in Eric Northman's basement.

More complications in the Stackhouse life? Yay.

* * *

 _Okay, ya'll! I know I'm gonna ask the impossible but I was wondering if you could push out some reviews for me! They keep my mind on the story and when I get long ones I get little Runa/Eric babies in my head. Sounds weird but I like to call them Runics - sounds mystical, am I right? Anyway, yeah guys if ya like it and ya kind of sort of like me then please, please, please shoot me a review._


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